


The Governor's Daughter

by southernbellesoccer



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-01-27 21:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1723325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/southernbellesoccer/pseuds/southernbellesoccer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashlyn Harris had never fallen into place as the Governor's daughter, especially when she felt that coming out as gay would jeopardize her father's reelection campaign. It didn't help that her family, along with her dad's campaign manager, saw her as a trouble maker. In steps Ali Krieger, an intern for the Governor's campaign that is assigned to keep Ashlyn out of trouble. What they didn't expect was for Ali to show them the other side to Ashlyn Harris that they had never bothered to look for before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this obviously an AU of Krashlyn. I had started writing this a while back and lost interest in it. I ended up coming back to it and was really able to get some work done on it and finish it up. I know you haven’t seen much from since my surgery but that’s because I focused on finishing this up. Hope you all enjoy!

Ashlyn ran down the stairs in search of the clothes she was supposed to have delivered, freshly dry-cleaned. She had arrived back home the night before, if she can really call the governor’s mansion home. She had come in around midnight, her dad, the Governor of Virginia, was already asleep and the only person awake to greet her as she came home from college was her little sister, Whitney. 

Ashlyn rounded the end of the steps and was heading towards the kitchen, where most of the deliveries get sent, when she ran straight into the one person in the house that she was trying to avoid having to see.

“God, Ashlyn! Watch where you are going. I’m already wearing my dress for the party.” Charlotte, her step-mother, got on to her.

“Yes, I’m happy to be home from college. I’m really good. How are you?” Ashlyn joked out of spite.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “I don’t need your attitude today, Ashlyn. Your father is hosting a garden party for the reelection campaign this afternoon. We are all very busy.”

“Yea, too busy to send anyone other than a security officer to pick me up from the airport last night. I get it. So have you seen my slacks and dress shirt? They were supposed to be delivered this morning through the drycleaners.”

“No, I haven’t seen them. But maybe you should try wearing a dress today. All the other women will be.” Charlotte suggested.

“I think I’m good, but thanks for the suggestion.” Ashlyn said as she started walking away.

Charlotte huffed and started to head to the master bedroom when Mr. Lee, Governor Harris’ Campaign Manager, walked through the front door of the mansion. “Mrs. Harris, so good to see you on this fine day.”

“Lee. Good to see you also. Although, I must announce the prodigal daughter has returned. Same sharp tongue as always. What are we going to do with her?”

Lee shook his head, “Hell If I know. The last thing we need is for the conservative candidate to have an openly gay daughter, add her partying to the mix and we’ll have a situation on our hand. It will look like Mike can’t handle his own daughters.”

“Stick a babysitter on her. Don’t you have a thousand little interns running around? Just have one you trust watch over her for the summer until she goes back to school.” Charlotte suggested.

Mr. Lee took a second to think on it. “I’ll see what I can do.” He said before heading back out of the house, already on his cell phone making a call.  
~~   
Ashlyn found her clothes and was taking them upstairs when she heard her dad’s voice. “There’s my college girl!” he shouted up and Ashlyn immediately stopped. She came running down the steps and her dad gave her a high-five before bringing her into to a bro-like hug. 

“Hey, pops.”

“Hey, sweetheart, I didn’t know you were home. When did you get in?”

“Late last night. You were already asleep.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ash. If I had known you were coming then I would have waited up.”

“I told you two days ago on the phone.” Ashlyn muttered.

“What was that?” her dad asked looking down at his phone for a second.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. You needed your sleep. You have a big day today.”

“Big day for all of us. There is going to be a lot of people here that you need to meet. I expect for you to be running for state senate by the time I’m running for President.” he semi joked.

Ashlyn chuckled, “Looking a little far into the future aren’t we dad?”

Mike shook his head, “Can never start making plans to soon when you’re in politics. Hasn’t that Harvard education taught you anything?” He joked as he patted his daughter’s back and walked towards his office. 

“Hey, dad!” Ashlyn called after him.

“Yeah?” he replied, turning around quickly.

“I missed you.”

“Missed you too, sweetie.” He said giving her a smile and walking into his office.

Ashlyn sighed and headed back upstairs. Why did she even bother coming home for the summer?  
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~  
“Mr. Lee?” Ali asked as she approached the man in the light gray suit who was standing on the back porch of the governor’s mansion, overlooking the party preparations. 

Lee turned around and spotted the girl. She was a pretty girl and he internally groaned at the thought that Ashlyn might end up attracted to her. That wouldn’t solve any problems. He put on a smile anyway, “Hi, you must be Ali?”

“Yes, sir.”

“My office manager told me that you would be the one to trust, good work ethic, eager to get involved and do things.”

“Yes, sir.” Ali said with a smile and a slight blush.

“Good, because I need you to do something very important. It will take up your whole summer and involve some traveling, I'll even pay a little extra then what you are getting."

"Then I'm your girl." Ali assured him.

"I need you to babysit the Governor’s daughter.”

Ali’s smile fell, the last thing she wanted to spend her summer doing was babysitting the Governor’s youngest daughter. “No offense, sir, but I was hoping to gain some political experience this summer. Not watch a 15 year-old go shopping.”

Mr. Lee laughed, “Who said I was talking about Whitney? I’m about to give you tons of political experience, because I need you to babysit Ashlyn. You and I both know that the Governor is grooming her to follow in his political footsteps. Make friends with her and you’ll go far. Never know, you might be her campaign manager one day. Just keep her out of trouble. If you have any questions just come to me, I handle anything directly related to the family. You will still pick your paychecks up at the office like you did before.”

Ali nodded, “And Ashlyn is cool with this? I don’t see a 20 year-old independent woman being ok with having a babysitter.”

Lee chuckled, “Oh, she’ll hate it but she won’t take it out on you…Speak of the devil.” He said as he saw Ashlyn walk outside. 

The blonde was wearing a pair of khaki slacks and a baby blue button down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She had her hair in a tight bun, and Ali quickly spotted a tattoo peeking out on her shoulder close to her neck. Ali smirked at the tattoo, she would bet big bucks that the blonde’s parents didn’t know about that one.

Ashlyn examined the yard, it looked like a scene out of a movie, she couldn’t count the number of tables containing food, large tents and extravagantly decorated tables covering the lawn. The flowers and fountains were in perfect condition. She rolled her eyes, this must be her step-mother’s doing. She then noticed Mr. Lee standing on the other side of the porch and when they made eye contact he motioned her over.

He had a young woman standing with him, a beautiful young woman at that. Brown hair, brown eyes, breath taking smile. She was wearing a yellow sundress and Ashlyn was immediately captivated by her.

“Ashlyn! It’s so good to see you. You haven’t been around since Christmas, right?”

Ashlyn nodded, “Fortunately.” She said with a tight smile and Ali had to hold in her laughter at the slide.

Lee put on a fake smile and continued. “Well, I’m sure your dad is glad to have you home. I want to introduce you to Ali Krieger. She is an intern with your father’s campaign and I thought that she might be able to assist you some this summer. You know, make sure you get to all of the events you are supposed to attend, help you prep for interviews, and so forth.”

Ashlyn smirked, “You mean keep me out of trouble.”

Lee’s face turned serious. “I’m not going to lie to you, Ashlyn. We need this campaign to go well. You know that means that we need you and your sister on your best behavior.”

“But especially me.” Ashlyn nodded in understanding. “If having Ms. Krieger with me will calm your nerves then she is welcomed to join me. But you should know that the respect I have for my father is great enough that I wouldn’t purposely do anything to screw up.”

Lee cut his eyes away, trying to find a way out of the conversation, he finally spotted the first few guests arriving. “Look, we can continue this conversation later if you would like, but I need to go greet some guests. I’ll see you ladies later.” He excused himself before walking off and leaving the two girls alone. 

“So….” Ali said letting it hang awkwardly after Mr. Lee had introduced them then walked away.

Ashlyn smirked at the brunette, “What? I wasn’t what you were expecting when they asked you to babysit the Governor’s daughter?”

Ali laughed letting the chill nature of the blonde take away the awkwardness. “No. Not really, but this is much better than following around a 15 year-old dealing with shopping and boyfriend problems.”

Ashlyn chuckled and stuck her hands in her pockets. “Ah, so you thought they would be giving you my little sister, Whitney.”

Ali shrugged, “Well, I didn’t think the 20 year-old, Harvard student would need me to babysit her.”

Ashlyn leaned into the brunette. “Well, then you have a lot to learn about me.” She whispered before walking off and leaving Ali to catch up with her.

“I do have a lot to learn. Let’s start with the reasons why Mr. Lee thinks you need a babysitter while you’re home for the summer.” Ali said as she fell into pace with the younger girl.

“Simple.” Ashlyn said as she grabbed two champagne glasses off a waiter passing by and handed one to Ali. “My step-monster thinks I’m a heathen that is going to destroy my dad’s reelection campaign.” 

“Note to self, she doesn’t like her step-mother.” Ali joked as she took the champagne away from the blonde and set it on a table as they passed but kept her glass.

“Hey, I was going to drink that.” Ashlyn pouted. 

Ali giggled. “I know. But I’m pretty sure that’s another reason I’m supposed to be watching you. Something tells me it wouldn’t look good if you got caught under-age drinking at one of your father’s events. And I’m sure they also would like me to minimize the number of times you call Mrs. Harris, Step-Monster, in front of other people.”

Ashlyn laughed, “Yeah, well you don’t know the half of it. She was my mom’s best friend. My mom dies, leaving behind a 9 year-old and 4 year-old daughter and Charlotte just comes swopping in to take our dad away from us also.” Ashlyn stopped walking as they reached the edge of the lawn and she looked back over the party. “This isn’t how my mom would have done this party.” She whispered with a sigh as she shoved her hands back in her pockets. “My dad likes simple, BBQ/ grill-out type functions. Something where he really feels relaxed and that he can talk to people. Charlotte just wants a fancy party so they will put pictures of it in Better Home and Gardens magazine.” She informed Ali, but was still looking at the party in front of her.

“Sounds like your mom knew your dad pretty well.” Ali ventured out.

Ashlyn nodded and let a small smile creep upon her lips. “Yeah, she was the best.” Is all Ashlyn said before turning her attention back to   
Ali. “So, if I’m going to have to spend so much time with you, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

Ali smiled at how she changed the subject instead of continuing to talk about herself. They would definitely have to come back to that. “Well, my full name is Alexandra. I’m 23. A graduate student at Georgetown, studying for a Master degree in Public Policy. I graduated from Penn State with a degree in business administration.” 

“Wow. No wonder they hired you as an intern. I’m impressed Ms. Krieger.” Ashlyn said.

“Impressed? Really? The Harvard student studying Government, whom I am told got into Harvard not because of her daddy but because she scored a 35 on her ACT and was the top of her class at one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country, is impressed by me?” Ali witted.

Ashlyn smirked and took a step closer to the brunette, “You forgot something.”

Ali took a step forward also. “And what’s that?” she asked, the tension rising as they got closer to each other.

“I’m a double major. Government and Architecture.” 

Ali’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Architecture? Those two don’t go together.”

“Nope, one is what my dad wants me to do, the other is what I want to do.” Ashlyn said before taking a step back and starting to walk towards one of the many food tables, leaving Ali to follow with the tension dropped. 

Ali took a deep breath before following. This girl was really going to make her work for information. They both prepared themselves a plate and then found an empty table among the guests and sat down. “So, you know about my family, just like the rest of the state of Virginia. Tell me about yours’.” Ashlyn instructed. 

Ali thought for a second and then started. “Ok, well, my parents divorced when I was just a baby. I don’t think I was even a year old. I have an older brother, Kyle. He lives in California now. Both of my parents stayed single for a while. My mom, Debby, married when I was about ten, my step-dad’s name is Ben. He’s a really nice guy. They didn’t have any kids of their own. My dad, Ken, got married about 6 years ago…. Steph is an interesting choice. I’ll give him that.”

“Interesting?” Ashlyn pried for more. 

Ali shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, she’s twenty years younger than him which makes her only ten years older than me and only 6 years older than my brother. And to top it all off, they have twin boys, Luca and Noah. They’re four years-old.”

Ashlyn snorted. “Wait, you’re telling me that you, at 23 years-old, have two little brothers that are four?” 

Ali nodded and Ashlyn started to laugh which lead Ali to start laughing also.

“Wow.” Ashlyn finally said. “I couldn’t imagine. That would be like my dad and Charlotte having a baby right now.” she paused for a moment then shuddered. “Disgusting.”

Ali giggled. “Tell me about it. But really, Steph is a really sweet woman. We get along great, and I have the cutest little brothers in the world.”

“Really? I’ll be the judge of that. Got any pictures?”

Ali nodded and quickly pulled her phone out. Sure enough, her screen saver happened to be a picture of her and the two identical little boys. Ashlyn smiled as she looked at the picture, she observed how cute the kids really were but her gaze mainly landed on how beautiful Ali looked sitting between the two. She looked back up at Ali and caught her gaze. “Adorable.” Ashlyn said with a cheesy smile.

Ali beamed and looked down to the picture on her phone, “Yeah, they’re pretty great. I love when I get to babysit them.”

Ashlyn laughed, “Well, hopefully baby-sitting me can compare. I think I have the cute factor going for me at least.”

“You wish.” Ali teased, hiding her grin behind her punch glass. 

“Oh, whatever.” Ashlyn said as she popped a piece of shrimp in her mouth. There was silence between them for a moment until Ashlyn spotted her sister and her boyfriend sneaking towards the parking lot. “Question, does your job also include keeping my sister out of trouble?”

Ali raised her eyebrow in confusion and turned to where Ashlyn was looking. “No, why?”

“Then I have some big sister duties to go do. Care to join me?”

“Consider me attached to your side.” Ali replied as she got up from the table to follow behind the blonde.

Ashlyn quickly led them through the crowd and reached the parking lot right when Whitney and her boyfriend where getting in the boy’s truck. Ashlyn jogged over and called her sister’s name.

Whitney’s shoulders dropped as she heard her name being called and she turned around to face her sister and a girl she had never seen before. 

“Where you going?” Ashlyn asked, trying not to sound accusatory. 

“Gabe has a baseball game this afternoon. It’s a qualifying game for the state championship. He really wants me to go, and I had promised I would go way before they planned this stupid party.” Whitney explained.

Ashlyn bit her lip, thinking. “What school do you go to?” Ashlyn finally asked the teenage boy.

“Richmond High.” Gabe said with a gulp. As soon as he answered, Ali was on her phone but Ashlyn kept up the interrogation. 

“What position do you play?” 

“Third base.”

Ashlyn nodded and then looked back at her little sister who had already given up hope of being able to go to her boyfriend’s game. Ali then tapped Ashlyn on the shoulder and handed her the phone. Ashlyn looked down and sure enough, Ali had pulled up the High School’s schedule and roster and the kid does have a game today at 4, proving that the teens weren’t lying. Ashlyn sighed, “Fine, I’m not stopping you. But I’m also not going to swoop in and save your ass when you get in trouble for leaving.”

“Really!?” Whitney asked excitedly and Ashlyn nodded. 

The younger girl ran and gave her sister a quick hug and then hopped in the truck yelling a ‘Thank you’ out the window as they drove off.

Ashlyn shook her head and turned around to return to the party to find Ali smiling at her, “You really love her don’t you?” Ali asked.

Ashlyn shrugged, “Guess I do. She reminds me a lot of my mom. If you compare pictures of the two of them then you would say they were almost identical. I just want her to have chances to be normal, like going to her boyfriend’s baseball game.”

Ali giggled and grabbed Ashlyn’s arm to drag her back towards the party. “So basically you’re telling me that you’re just a big softy.”

Ashlyn laughed. “I’ll let you be the judge of that as you get to know me.”

They walked back into the yard and Ashlyn spotted her step-monster walking towards them and groaned. 

“What?” Ali asked.

Ashlyn nodded her head in Charlotte’s direction and Ali nodded in understanding. “Want to know another reason I can’t stand her?” Ashlyn asked.

“Sure.”

“Just play along.” Ashlyn instructed as she laced Ali’s hand with hers as Charlotte approached. 

“There you are, your father was looking for you. He had someone he wanted to introduce you to.” She said sharply to her step-daughter.

Ashlyn smiled and shrugged, “Sorry. I was a little busy.”

“Busy? Doing what?” Charlotte asked before noticing Ali and Ashlyn’s laced hands. “Oh, you brought a date?” she asked through clenched teeth. 

“Is that a problem?” Ashlyn asked, unlacing their hands and wrapping her arm around Ali’s waist instead and pulled her a little closer.

Charlotte shook her head, “You just should have warned me is all, we have news reporters here for when your dad makes his campaign announcement. You know that this is inappropriate.”

Ashlyn nodded, “Don’t worry. We’ll stay low key.”

“You better.” Charlotte huffed before walking off. 

Once she was out of sight, Ashlyn dropped her arm from around Ali’s waist.

“What does she have up her ass?” Ali asked, astonished that she would talk to Ashlyn that way.

“The pool boy’s cock.” Ashlyn said with a shrug and started to walk away. 

Ali was slightly shocked at Ashlyn’s statement but quickly went to catch up with her and grabbed her by the hand. “Wait up. Is it really that big of a deal if I had been your date?”

Ashlyn sighed, “Unfortunately.”

“That’s ridiculous, and complete bullshit. Does your dad feel the same way?” 

“I love how you just bypass the fact that you just found out I was gay.” Ashlyn said with a chuckle.

Ali rolled her eyes. “Don’t avoid my questions. Does your dad treat you the same way?”

“No, I’ve always been the son he never had. He joked when I told him and said that he knew it was only a matter of time till he could start talking about pretty girls with me too. He took it well but his campaign manager didn’t. It goes against the conservative values that they’ve had my dad preaching the last few years.”

“Well, I’m sorry you have to put up with that.” Ali said squeezing Ashlyn’s hand.

“And no comment on me being gay?” Ashlyn asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why should I have to comment? There’s nothing wrong with it. My brother’s gay. And I’m…I’m confused. It’s all just a part of life. No judgment from me.”

Ashlyn smiled and squeezed her hand back before dropping it. “Good to know. Thanks.”


	2. Chapter 2

~~ Five days later ~~ ~~

“Hey, Georgetown girl, ready to take your first campaign trip?” Ashlyn asked as she answered the door when Ali came over for the day.

So far the two girls had spent the past five days together, getting to know each other and keeping a watch over Whitney, who was grounded for leaving the party the other day. Their days were filled with games of twenty questions, icecream, and movies, lots of movies and Ashlyn always let Ali pick. Charlotte had figured out that Ali had not been Ashlyn’s date, but was actually the intern that was to keep Ashlyn out of trouble, when Ali showed up at their house again the next day and Ashlyn explained who Ali was. Charlotte was pleasantly surprised that Ashlyn seemed to be getting along with the girl and not causing them much trouble over it.

“Campaign trip? Where to?” Ali asked, setting her purse down on the table and following Ashlyn to sit on the couch. 

“Well, it’s not much of a trip, and it’s an area that won’t be too exciting for you, but my dad is going to D.C. tomorrow and just staying for a night. He asked if I wanted to join. Sit in on a few meetings, which means you, the nerd, also get to go and sit in on those meetings.”

“For real?! That sounds awesome.”

Ashlyn smiled at the brunette’s excitement. “Thought you might like the idea of going. Maybe you could find something fun for us to do tomorrow night since you know the city. Maybe invite a few friends if you want to catch up with anyone or something.”

“Sure thing. So where’s your sister?”

“Been on my phone talking to Gabe for the last hour. I’m about to go upstairs and steal it back.”

Ali laughed. “Why did you let her have it? She doesn’t have hers because she’s grounded. You aren’t supposed to go give her yours.” Ali chastised as she stood from the couch and headed upstairs to Whitney’s room.

Ali seemed to get along well with both of the Harris girls. Whitney took to her well after Ali had helped convince Ashlyn that it was ok to leave the party the other afternoon. She also had come to enjoy teasing the two older girls about liking each other after spending the last few days with them. 

Ali walked into Whitney’s bedroom without knocking, “Yo, get off your sisters phone. You’re grounded.” 

“Five more minutes. Please, Ali?” Whitney sweetly begged with puppy dog eyes.

Ali sighed, “Fine. But you better be downstairs in five minutes giving your sister her phone back.”

Whitney gave her a thumbs up and Ali stepped out of the doorway and closed the door. She turned around and screamed when she saw Ashlyn was right behind her. “What the hell, Harris! You scared the shit out of me.” She said as she slapped Ashlyn in the arm.

Ashlyn was bent over laughing, clutching her stomach. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just came up to watch you be big, scary, Ali. I’m disappointed that you caved.”

“Oh, really? I would love to see you do better.” Ali challenged.

Ashlyn straightened up and looked Ali in the eye. “Fine.” She then walked into her sister’s room and went straight to the teenage girl and snatched the phone out of her hand. “Hey! Ali said I had five more minutes!” Whitney argued. 

“Yeah, well it’s not Ali’s phone. It’s mine and I want it now.” She then looked down at the phone and saw it was still on and held it up to her ear. “Sorry, Gabe, she’s grounded, I can’t let her keep using my phone. She’s says bye and that she loves you.” Ashlyn then hung up the phone not waiting for a response from the boy. 

“What the hell, Ashlyn!” Whitney screamed in horror as she started running her hands through her hair and pacing back and forth. 

“What’s wrong?” Ashlyn said with a laugh as she watched her younger sister freaking out.

“We haven’t said the “L” word! You shouldn’t have used that!”

Ashlyn laughed even harder. “Are you kidding me!? He knew I was joking, Whit. Calm the hell down.” She said before leaving the room and waving her phone in front of Ali’s face as she passed by her with a smirk.

Ali shook her head but didn’t follow her out immediately. “Would you feel better if I let you call him back on my phone real quick?” Ali asked.

Whitney stopped her pacing and looked at Ali. “Really?”

Ali nodded, “But same deal as we had before. 5 minutes. Got it?”

“Yes!” Whitney said excitedly as she took the phone Ali was offering and immediately started to dial Gabe’s number. 

Ali shook her head and chuckled as she exited the room. She noticed the light on in Ashlyn’s bedroom down the hall and walked towards it. “Hey.” Ali said as she knocked on the doorframe.

Ashlyn was lying on her bed, looking at her phone, she glanced up though when she heard the voice that had become familiar to her over the past few days. “Hey, did you calm the beast?” 

Ali giggled and came the rest of the way into the room. “Yeah. She’s good for now.”

Ashlyn scooted over to one side of her queen size bed and motioned for Ali to come take a seat. “It’s not fair that I have to do this kind of stuff, ya know? Like, I shouldn’t be stuck at the house making sure that Whitney keeps the rules of her grounding.”

“I bet you’ve had to take on a lot of responsibility with her. I can’t imagine.” Ali responded.

Ashlyn nodded, “When we were little, I was the one who walked her to class on her first day of school because dad just had his driver drop us off. I was the one who had to pull out her first tooth for her when she was six. I was the one who had to explain periods to her. My mom is gone and my dad is naïve enough to think that Charlotte resembles anything close to a mom.”

“You are an incredible big sister, Ashlyn Harris, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to parent a younger sibling. But I know that you are a better person for it.” Ali said as she scooted closer to Ashlyn and grabbed her hand.

Ashlyn sighed, “Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I would be if my mom was still alive.” 

Ali didn’t know how to respond to that one so she only scooted closer to the blonde, cuddling into her side and pulling her close with her right arm. Ashlyn took comfort in the embrace, and placed a kiss to Ali’s hair to show her appreciation. 

They stayed silent until Whitney came barging into the room with Ali’s phone. “Hey, brought your phone back. Thanks for letting me use it.” She said as she came into the room but she stopped at the door. “Oops. Looks like I’m interrupting something.” She teased as she wiggled her eyebrows at the two.

They both rolled their eyes and separated from each other. “Shut up and give Ali her phone back.” Ashlyn said to her sister. 

Whitney tossed the phone to Ali and started walking out of the room singing, “Ashlyn and Ali sitting in a tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g.”

“Shut up!” Ashlyn yelled after her and then all three girls started giggling. “Sorry about that.” Ashlyn said softly to Ali.

“Trust me, you never have to apologize for your sister. I couldn’t imagine if I had to apologize after every time my brother said something stupid.”

Ashlyn chuckled quietly. “Yeah, thanks. But I wasn’t apologizing for her. Sorry that I had a little mental break down.”

Ali looked into Ashlyn’s eyes. “You don’t have to apologize for that either. It’s nice to see a different side to the tough ole Ashlyn.”

Ashlyn chuckled, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, Alex. That’s not the whole story to who I am”

Ali looked at her thoughtfully. “I think I’m learning that. But seriously, you don’t have to apologize.”

“I know, it’s just…I do so well when I’m in Boston, away from everything and everybody, then I come home and I’m dealing with Whitney and fighting with Charlotte and it all comes back to how much I miss my mom.”

Ali nodded, “I get it. I’m always good when I’m with my parents separately, but put them together for things like high school ballgames and graduations and I was always left wondering how things could be different if I had grown up with them still together.” 

Ashlyn laughed with no humor. “Sounds like we’re both screwed up.”

Ali shrugged, “It made me stronger. Seems like it did the same for you.”

Ashlyn smiled and they dropped the subject. They spent the rest of the day watching movies and eating junk food with Whitney.

~~ The next morning ~~

Ashlyn was looking out the front window, anticipating Ali’s arrival so they could load up on the campaign bus and head to D.C. for the day. She had already decided that she definitely wasn’t going to be mad at Ali for having to keep an eye on her. No, her anger was directed towards Charlotte and Mr. Lee. Ali was the last person Ashlyn would ever blame.

“If I didn’t know any better than I would say you have a crush on one of my interns.” Governor Harris said as he came up behind his daughter and looked out the same window she was staring out. 

Ashlyn scoffed. “Yeah right. She works for you, I don’t think that would be very professional. I don't like her like that.”

Mike smiled at the back of his daughter’s head. “Uh-huh. And I can fly.” He teased.

Ashlyn snorted and kept looking out window. It was quiet between the two for a moment before Ashlyn spoke again. “Not saying that I do like her, but would there be a problem if I did?” Ashlyn asked carefully.

The Governor put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “If you like her than I’m sure I will like her, and my approval is the only thing you should be worried about. I don’t want you to be worried about anyone else’s opinion.”

“And if I asked her on a date or any girl on a date for that matter?”

“Then I hope you have a good time.” He said nonchalantly. 

Ashlyn rolled her eyes but continued to look out the window. “Something tells me that Lee wouldn’t be happy with me for ruining your campaign.” She also knew that dating a girl during her dad’s campaign wouldn’t help his chances of winning, it didn’t matter how much she liked Ali, there are just some lines Ashlyn wouldn’t cross. She couldn’t ruin this for her dad.

Her dad chuckled, “You being happy, and you being yourself, isn’t what I would consider ruining my campaign.”

Ashlyn looked over her shoulder and smiled at her dad, who returned the smile before nodding towards the window and bringing Ashlyn’s attention to the car pulling in the drive. “Oh! That’s Ali!” She said quickly before practically running out the front door and leaving her dad behind shaking his head.

Ashlyn reached the car just as Ali put it in park and she opened the door for the older girl. “Good morning!” Ashlyn said cheerfully.

Ali groaned and held out her coffee for Ashlyn to hold while she got out of the car. “Until I’ve finished that cup, it’s not a good morning.” Ali warned.

Ashlyn playfully shied away from the grumpy brunette and Ali got out of the car. “We can go straight to the bus with your stuff. I already put my stuff on.” 

Ali nodded and grabbed a small duffle bag from the trunk that Ashlyn quickly took from her and filled her empty hand with her coffee. “Mhmm, thank you. And here I thought I was the one who worked for you.”

Ashlyn shook her head, “You work for Mr. Lee and my dad. I just count you as a friend.”

Ali smirked, “I see. I’ve moved up from babysitter to friend. I feel special.”

“You should.” Ashlyn winked at her and then started walking towards the bus. 

Ashlyn put her bag down and then they both settled in on the couch of the tour bus. Ali was just about to nod back off to sleep with her head leaning on Ashlyn’s shoulder when Mr. Lee and Governor Harris walked on the bus. 

Ali quickly sat up and Ashlyn chuckled. “Hello Ms. Harris, Ms. Krieger.” Lee greeted as he came up.

“Morning.” They responded together. 

Governor Harris came on next, he put his briefcase down and slid his jacket off, draping it over a chair, before speaking to the girls. “So, are you going to introduce me or what?” he asked with a friendly smile.

Ashlyn smiled and gave Ali’s hand a quick squeeze before introducing them. “Dad, this is Ali Krieger. She’s in charge of making sure I don’t get in any trouble this summer. And Ali, this is my dad.”

Ali smiled and stood to shake the governor’s hand. “It’s so great to meet you, Governor Harris. I’ve really enjoyed getting to work for your campaign.”

“Well, thank you, Ali. I’m glad that you’re working with us. But please call me Mike, or Mr. Mike. Whatever, just something other than governor.”

Ali smiled, “I’ll try.”

“Yeah, well if my Ashlyn gives you too much trouble then you just come straight to me.”

Ali laughed and Ashlyn groaned. “I’ll keep that in mind. Lucky for her, she seems to be keeping in line.”

Ashlyn scoffed, “That’s because we haven’t done anything other than sit on the couch and watch movies or go for a run.”

“What? You think that isn’t a part of my plan? The more time I keep you at home the less I have to worry about you.” Ali bantered back and the whole bus laughed. 

“Lee, I think you’ve picked a good one to keep up with my girl.” Mike said as he settled into his chair and the whole bus calmed down and settled in for the two hour ride to D.C.

Ashlyn gave Ali a small smile and they settled back to their positions on the couch. “He likes you. Just take a deep breath.” Ashlyn whispered to a still tense Ali and then felt her relax into her. Ashlyn smiled to herself as she watched Ali fall asleep.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“Wow!” Ali looked at the hotel room in amazement. 

“Welcome to traveling with the governor.” Ashlyn chuckled and set both of their bags down on the floor.

“So when is the meeting this afternoon?” Ali asked.

“Aren’t you supposed to know that kind of stuff?” Ashlyn teased as she plopped down on the bed closet to the window.

Ali laughed and came over to the same bed as Ashlyn and sat on the edge. “Ummm, no. I’m not your assistant. I have to make sure you get there and that you’re dressed appropriately and that you don’t say anything stupid. But YOU are supposed to tell me your schedule.”

Ashlyn groaned and wrapped her arms around the brunette sitting on her bed and pulled her down to a lying position before letting go. “Fine, I guess I’ll keep up with my schedule. The meeting is at 4. We leave here at 3:15. Which gives us plenty of time for a nap.”

Ali giggled. “A nap? We slept like the whole bus ride.”

“Correction. You slept the whole bus ride.”

“Fine.” Ali conceded as she pulled out her cellphone to set an alarm. After setting the alarm she checked her instagram, twitter, and then she glanced at the major news sites to check for anything big going on. By the time she set her phone down and turned back to Ashlyn, the blonde was asleep. 

~~

“Ashlyn.” Ali whispered as she shook her awake gently. “You got to get up. You need to change clothes for the meeting.”

“Mmmm, 5 more minutes, mom.” Ashlyn mumbled into her pillow.

Ali giggled and ran her hand from Ashlyn’s back to her side to tickle her awake.

Ashlyn let out a squeal and practically rolled off the bed, leaving Ali laughing hysterically on top. 

Ashlyn stood up with a huff and gave Ali a pointed look as she went to her suitcase. “What do you suggest I wear?”

“Black dress pants, white button down, black blazer.” Ali said as she sobered up from her laughter and sat up in the bed. 

Ashlyn got the clothes out and set them on the bed, for the first time she realized that Ali had already changed. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and a sleeveless baby blue blouse. Ashlyn had to stop herself from staring and quickly turned, slipping her shirt above her head in the process.

Ali’s eyes went wide as Ashlyn took her shirt off. She thought that the blonde would go to the bathroom to change. But this was the first time that Ali really got to see the tattoo that she had noticed on Ashlyn’s shoulder the first day they met. She scanned the toned body starting with the shoulders and making her way down, stopping at the tattoos that also spread across her ribcage. 

“Does your dad know about those tattoos?” Ali asked.

Ashlyn smiled to herself at the fact that Ali must have been looking at her. “Umm, he knows about the ones on my ribcage. It’s actually based off a design of the first surfboard he ever gave me when I was seven. But the shoulders are new.”

“What does it say?” Ali asked, standing up from the bed and coming to stand behind Ashlyn to get a closer look.

Ashlyn took a deep breath as she felt Ali’s breath reach the skin on her back. “It says ‘knowledge speaks; wisdom listens’.” The tension between the two was thick. Neither was in favor of breaking it at the moment. Ashlyn had to hold in the temptation to turn around and trap Ali in her arms.

“Profound.” Ali said softly before turning around and grabbing Ashlyn’s shirt from the bed. “You should put this on now.” Ali whispered holding the shirt out to the blonde, she needed the temptation gone.

Ashlyn nodded and took the shirt, making a mental note to change in the bathroom from now on.

Ashlyn finished getting dressed and they both made their way down to the lobby to meet her dad, Lee, and the rest of her dad’s staff in the conference room.

“Hey, there’s the girls.” Mike said with excitement as he saw them walk in. “You two ready to go?”

“Yep.” Ashlyn responded.

They started to walk out of the hotel to the awaiting car and Mike matched pace with the girls. “You both look nice. You get my daughter to clean up well, Ali. I’m impressed.”

“Haha. Funny, dad. I’m perfectly capable of picking out my own clothes.”

Mike raised an eyebrow, “Really? So you picked this out?” he asked motioning to her clothes.

Ashlyn ducked her head. “Well, no. But I bought these clothes. Ali just put them together.”

Mike chuckled and stood back to let the two girls get in the car before him. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

~~

They got through the meeting with Ali only having to nudge Ashlyn to pay attention twice. It was just a meeting between the Governor and Virginia’s two senators about a bill they were currently writing that would help the mining industry, which would prove very helpful for the state. 

They walked out of the office and Governor Harris turned to the girls, “So, would y’all be interested in joining me for dinner?”

“No.” Ashlyn responded at the same time that Ali said, “Sure.”

The Governor laughed, “So which is it?”

Ashlyn turned to Ali, “I thought we were going to go out and have some fun tonight? This is our only night in the city.”

“We can still go out after we have dinner with your dad.” Ali argued.

Ashlyn pouted, “But-”

“Eh, no buts” Ali said holding her hand up to stop her. “I want to pick your dad’s brain about that meeting. I have a few questions. We’ll go out after dinner.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She caved and turned to her dad. “As long as you don’t mind fielding her questions all through dinner then we will join you.” 

Mike laughed at how well Ali handled his daughter. “I don’t mind at all. There is this incredible steakhouse that I like going to when I’m in town, it’s just a walk down the street.” He said with a nod of his head in the direction of the restaurant. 

They started walking with one of the Governor’s security officers in front of them leading the way.

They were seated quickly and didn’t take long to place their orders. The conversation was flowing easily and Ashlyn marveled at how well Ali could talk to her dad about all of the political stuff. Suddenly a man came up their table and patted the Governor on the back. Mike stood from his chair and gave the man a friendly greeting. They chatted for a moment before Mike introduced him to Ashlyn and Ali, giving the man a full run-down on Ashlyn, obviously talking her up. 

The man soon parted and Ashlyn looked to her dad. “So who was he?”

Ali quickly turned to Ashlyn in shock. “You really didn’t know who he was?”

“Uh…No. Should I have?”

Ali rolled her eyes. “White House Press Secretary, Ashlyn. I can’t believe you didn’t know that. You literally see him on the news all the time.”

Ashlyn shrugged, “I’m not good with faces.” She said before changing the subject to baseball and telling her dad that she wanted go to a Washington Nationals game with him this season.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“You paid like zero attention to mine and your dad’s conversation.” Ali observed as they walk down the sidewalk with their shoulders bumping into each other every so often. 

Ashlyn shrugged. “Y’all are boring.”

“You know, for someone studying government I would think you would be able to talk about it more than you do.”

“Oh, I can talk about it all day long. I have opinions and solutions. I just have to talk about it all the time. At school, at home, on the campaign trail. ” She shrugged. “I don’t know, after a while it just gets old.” 

Ali nodded and linked her arm through Ashlyn’s as they continued to walk down the street. “The bar is just down here on the left.” 

“Awesome. So did you invite any of your friends?”

“A few. I hope that’s ok.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Just hope they like me.”

“Oh, they’ll like you. Just expect to be teased about being under-age.” Ali giggled.

Ashlyn cut her eyes at her. “Don’t remind me.”

Ali laughed and pulled Ashlyn into the line for the bar. “At least you’re 20. That means that you don’t have to wait long.”

Ashlyn groaned, “Six long agonizing months. And I can’t even drink again when I get back at school because I would be dead if I got caught drinking before the election in November and my birthday isn’t until October.”

Ali laughed again as they entered the bar. She looked for her friends and quickly spotted them sitting in a corner booth. “Oh, there they are!” Ali said excitedly as she dragged Ashlyn towards her friends. 

“Ali!” the brunette’s friend, Megan, cheered as they approached the table. 

“Hey guys.” Ali said as she took a seat next to her friends and pulled Ashlyn into the booth behind her leaving her on the end. 

“We’ve missed you.” Heather said with a pout. “Are you sure that you have to stay in Richmond all summer?”

Ali giggled, “Yeah, it’s kind of my job. Anyway, I want to introduce you guys to my friend Ashlyn. Ashlyn these are my bestfriends. We have Megan, who we call Pinoe, Heather, Lauren, and Lori.”

“Nice to meet y’all. You all have a pretty incredible friend.” Ashlyn said, purposefully trying to make Ali blush.

“Yeah, yeah. She’s great. Whatever. Just please tell me you aren’t one of her friends from that god awful, conservative, campaign she’s working with.” Megan said.

“Pinoe, shut up.” Ali said through gritted teeth. 

“No, no. She’s fine, Al.” Ashlyn insured her as she draped her arm across the back of the booth behind Ali’s back.

Ali whipped her head towards Ashlyn, “But-”

“No, she’s right. He’s a mega conservative. I don’t particularly agree with everything he stands for either, but I’ll tell you this-” Ashlyn said looking Pinoe directly in the eye. “Governor Harris is one of the kindest, most-thoughtful people you could ever meet. He’s done a lot to reduce the unemployment rate in Virginia, and he’s made steps to lower taxes, if he could just get a legislature to agree with him then they could make some real progress. He’s also one of the strongest men I know. Not only did he serve in the United States Air Force for three years, but I also don’t know many men who can handle watching their wife slowly die for 2 years of cancer. And he’s a pretty damn good dad too if you ask me.”

Pinoe looked at her confused. “If I ask you?”

Ashlyn shrugged, “Yeah, he’s my dad.”

The rest of the women looked around the table shocked. It wasn’t every day that Megan got it handed to her. 

“Tried to warn you.” Ali whispered to her friend, which prompted the rest of the table to start laughing.

“Well, let’s just take politics off the discussion list for tonight then.” Heather said.

“Sounds good to me.” Pinoe mumbled. “Who’s up for some shots?” 

“I’m in.” Ali said, pushing Ashlyn out of the booth so Megan and Ali could go to the bar and buy a round for everyone. “What do you want?” Ali asked Ashlyn before they walked off towards the bar. 

“Jack and Coke?” Ashlyn asked, batting her eyelashes at the older girl.

Ali giggled and patted her head. “Yeah, not going to happen. How about just coke.”

Ashlyn sighed and slumped into the booth. “Fine.”

Everyone laughed and Ali and Megan walked off. “So, we let you go off to Richmond and you become best friends with the Governor’s daughter? How did that happen?”

“Funny story actually, I was kind of assigned to her. You know, make sure she stays out of trouble and shows up to all of the important events, that kind of thing. We’ve just gotten really close. I haven’t even known her for that long.”

“Well, I can see why she needs someone to keep her out of trouble.” Pinoe chuckled as she watched Ashlyn quickly stick her arm out to help keep a girl from falling. Ali turned around right when Ashlyn pulled the girl to safety in her lap instead of simply helping her stand. Both the blonde and the other girl laughed before the girl stood and Ashlyn followed, continuing, from Ali’s point of view, to flirt with the girl. Ali didn’t take her eyes off them until they parted ways and then she turned back to bar, seething.

“Jealous much?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ali said sternly.

“You little cougar! You are jealous!” Pinoe said in amusement. 

“I’m not jealous, Megan. I work for her dad’s campaign. Everything that happens between the two of us needs to remain professional.”

“Yeah, it NEEDS to but that doesn’t mean you WANT it to.”

“Just shut up.” Ali responded as the bartender came over with their tray of shots and a coke. Ali grabbed the tray and headed back to the table.

Ashlyn immediately stood up so the girls could slip back into their seats. “Your friends were just telling me about the time you threw up on the karaoke stage at a bar when you were drunk. I don’t think I’ve seen that side of Ali Krieger yet.” Ashlyn joked as she leaned into Ali and put her arm around the back of the booth like it had been before.

“Yeah, and you never will.” Ali said sharply and turned her body angle away from the blonde. 

Ashlyn looked on with confusion, unsure of what she did to make Ali react that way. Ashlyn spent the rest of the night charming Ali’s friends and basically being the life of the party, but the longer they sat in that booth, the further Ali scooted away from her. 

Megan, Lori, and Heather all went to the dance floor as soon as the band started up, which only left Ashlyn, Ali, and Lauren at the table. Ali was fine with it until Lauren’s phone rang and she went outside to answer it.

“Actually, I think I am going to go dance.” Ali said the second after Lauren left.

“Ok. I’ll come with you.” Ashlyn said eagerly, trying anything to get Ali to pay attention to her. 

Ali rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what you do, Ashlyn. You don’t have to tell me.”

Ashlyn looked at her with a face of hurt and confusion. “Actually you do have to care about what I do. It’s your job. But none of this explains why you’ve been treating me different all night. Is this the drunk Ali? Mean and rude?”

“Rude?” Ali scoffed. “I haven’t been rude. Rude is flirting with some girl when you came here with a friend.”

“What are you talking about?!” Ashlyn asked, slightly raising her voice. 

“The girl that fell? You were obviously flirting with her.”

“Who?”

“Don’t act dumb, Harris. I’m talking about the girl that you practically pulled into your lap!”

“So? I’m gay! It’s not every day that good looking girls just fall into my lap. I didn’t think it was a crime to help her up and introduce myself.” Ashlyn defended.

“Well, it sucked to watch.” Ali admitted with tears threatening to spill.

By this point Ashlyn was beyond confused. “Wait, were you jealous?” Ashlyn whispered as she reached out to grab Ali’s hand in reassurance.

Ali pushed her hand away. “Of course I was jealous, Ashlyn. You shouldn’t be surprised!”

Ashlyn opened her mouth as if she was about to say something but shut it and looked down at her glass and played with the condensation. After a moment she looked back up but didn’t meet Ali’s eyes. “I think we should talk about this back at the hotel.” She said softly.

“Agreed.” Ali said harshly. “Let me go say bye to my friends and we can leave. Besides, I need to get you back, you shouldn’t be seen leaving a bar late at night.”

Ashlyn nodded and got up from the booth to let Ali out so they could leave.

~~

The ride back to the hotel was silent and it was even more awkward when they got to their room. Neither one of them felt like starting the conversation that they obviously needed to have.

“I get it.” Ali finally said as they each sat on their own bed facing each other.

“Get what?” Ashlyn asked, looking at the floor and focusing on the floral design of the carpet.

“You’re a flirt, a player. I thought you had been flirting with me all week so...yeah, I was a little jealous at the bar. But I get it. You’re not attracted me. I was being stupid.”

Ashlyn’s head shot up. “What? Fuck no, Alex. That’s not it at all.” Ashlyn was on her knees in front of Ali in a heartbeat. She spread the brunette’s legs apart and kneeled between them, bringing her hands up to rest on her thighs. “Ali, I am so incredibly attracted to you. And I will gladly admit how sorry I am that you were hurt by my actions at the bar, but do not take that as me being unattracted to you. I would have been so jealous if you were flirting with another guy or girl and I’m sorry that I made you feel that way. You are fucking beautiful, Alex, and I will tell you that every day if I have to.”

“Then why did you avoid my comment about being jealous when we were at the bar?” Ali asked, sniffing to keep her tears at bay. 

“Because…” Ashlyn trailed off and came back with a voice barely above a whisper. “Because you and I both know that we-” she said motioning between the two of them. “can’t really BE anything. I can’t ask you out on a date. I can’t hold your hand in public. I can’t do anything with you that I have literally dreamt about the past week because I couldn’t handle the guilt if my dad lost his campaign because I decided to publically come out. And I’m sorry that I led you on. That was my mistake.” 

Ali didn’t say anything to her, she simply pulled her up by the collar of her shirt until they were face to face and kissed her. Kissed her hard and with passion, leaning back into the bed so Ashlyn had to come with her. They made out for a few minutes, lost in what they were doing, until Ashlyn slightly pulled back. “I can’t promise you anything, Ali. We have to appear professional at all times. This could never be a real relationship until after my dad’s election.” Ashlyn said, still straddling the brunette.

Ali nodded her head and snaked her arms around the blonde’s neck to pull her back down. “I know.” She whispered before capturing her lips again.


	3. Chapter 3

Ashlyn woke up first the next morning and immediately noticed the brown curls draped across the pillow beside her and could feel the arm wrapped around her waist. She was glad to notice they were both clothed, that was good. She slowly slipped out of Ali’s grasp and headed to the bathroom with a change of clothes so she could shower.

When she got out, Ali was still asleep. She went over to her bed and began kissing her neck from the collar bone up to her jaw. She felt Ali smile as she reached the corner of her mouth and pulled away with a smirk.

Ali groaned, “Uggh, you’re such a fucking tease.”

Ashlyn laughed and leaned down to place a quick peck on her lips. “Sorry.”

Ali smiled and reached up to run a hand through Ashlyn’s wet hair. “I should probably go shower also.”

Ashlyn sniffed and then scrunched her nose in mock disgust. “Yeah, you probably should.”

Ali slapped her arm and got up from the bed. “Whatever.” She said before grabbing some clothes and disappearing into the bathroom. 

After they were both cleaned up and dressed, they made their way down to lobby with their bags. They noticed the campaign bus outside and walked over to it. Ashlyn placed both of their bags towards the back of the bus before speaking to her dad and Mr. Lee, who were sat at the table eating breakfast. She came and sat next to Ali, who was sitting across from the two men, and laced their hands together under the table. 

“Good morning.” Ashlyn said happily in greeting to her dad and Lee.

“Morning, sunshine.” Mike said and gave his daughter a smile as he passed the muffin basket to the girls. “Did y’all have a good night last night?”

Ali and Ashlyn both glanced at each other and smiled with slight blushes. “Yeah, it was pretty good.” Ali responded. “I think I managed to keep her out of trouble.” She said nudging Ashlyn’s shoulder with her own.

Lee chuckled, “I hope so, that’s what we’re paying you for.”

Ashlyn stiffened at the comment and shot the man a death glare which prompted Ali to give her hand a tight squeeze of assurance that it was fine. But it still didn’t sit right with Ashlyn. After last night, she doesn’t want Ali to think she’s playing her because it’s convenient or because Ashlyn’s stuck with her all summer anyway. She doesn’t want Ali to think she’s just Ashlyn’s plaything that her rich daddy is paying to keep her company all summer. 

They finished up breakfast and settled themselves into the couch, Ashlyn’s arm draped over Ali’s shoulder with Ali leaning slightly into her. 

Ashlyn knew that Lee noticed how comfortable they were with each other but she didn’t particularly care about his opinion. She didn’t, however, notice her father looking at them, nor did she see the smile spread across his face.

~~ 8 days later ~~

“I’m sorry, Ashlyn. I just can’t go.” Ali said as she blew her nose for about the thousandth time since she had arrived at the governor’s mansion. 

“Then I won’t go. I don’t want you to be left alone in a city where you don’t really know anyone outside of my family when you’re sick.” 

Ali laughed, which turned into coughing as she brought another shirt out from Ashlyn’s closet and packed it in the blonde’s suitcase. “I’ll be fine, Ash. This is a trip you have to go on, even Charlotte and Whitney are going. You can’t get out of it. And don’t think that I haven’t already told Whitney to watch out for you to make sure you don’t get into any trouble while I’m not around.”

Ashlyn pouted and reached out and captured Ali in her arms as she started heading back to her closet. “But I’ll miss you.”

Ali rolled her eyes. “You’ll be gone for three days.”

“That’s three days of not getting to hold you or kiss you. Sounds awful.” 

Ali wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck and rested her forehead on hers. “Yeah, it does kind of sound awful, but I think you’ll make it.”

Ashlyn smirked. “Guess I just have to get all my kisses in now.” she teased, leaning in for a kiss.

Right as she leaned in, Ali quickly ducked her head and pulled out of her arms. “Nuh-uh. No kisses. I can’t get you sick. You have to be able to go on this trip.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Seems like all the more reason for you to kiss me. Then we can be sick together and I won’t have to go to this stupid thing without you.” She said as she reached out to grab Ali again.

Ali backed further away. “Stop, Ashlyn. I need to get you finished packing and then I’m going to go back to my apartment and sleep for the next three days.”

“Doesn’t sound like much fun.” Ashlyn pouted and crossed her arms as she plopped back down on her bed.

“It won’t be. But it will be worth it when I’m all rested up and feeling better when you get home. Then you can kiss me as much as you want.” Ali teased.

Ashlyn raised an eyebrow at her. “As much as I want?”

Ali nodded her head and bit her lip seductively, “I’ll even let you go all night long if you want to.”

Ashlyn groaned and buried her face in her hands. “God, don’t do this to me, woman. I’m about to get on a bus, packed with people I don’t particularly like, to drive 5 hours to attend events that I don’t really want to go to. Don’t send me off as a horny mess.”

Ali laughed and came over to kiss her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, babe. But you can text me the whole time, and we can facetime every night, and you can call me just because you feel like it. I don’t care, whatever it takes for you to get through the next few days.”

“Fine.” Ashlyn agreed as she saw Ali zip up her suitcase. “Am I all set?”

“Yep. I even packed them in the order you should wear them so there’s no confusion.”

Ashlyn nodded and grabbed the bag before grabbing Ali’s hand and heading downstairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they dropped hands so no one would see. “Quick, last chance to kiss me so maybe I’ll get sick and they send me home early.” Ashlyn teased as she noticed no one was around.

Ali rolled her eyes and shoved the blonde in the shoulder. “No chance, Romeo.”

“Hey girls!” the governor greeted as he walked in holding his own suitcase. “I’m sorry to hear you aren’t going to be able to join us, Ali. Are you feeling any better?” he asked.

“Better than yesterday, but you should still keep your distance.” She said honestly.

Mike nodded in understanding. “I get it. Well, feel better. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep Ashlyn entertained without you around.”

All three of them laughed, mostly because it was true. Ali captivated Ashlyn’s attention better than anyone or anything else. “I promise to get better real soon. I’m actually really disappointed that I’m missing this trip.” 

“And I know Ashlyn is disappointed also.” He said with a wink before turning towards the door. “Feel better, Ali. I’m sure I’ll see you the second we get back.” He called back as he laughed his way out the door.

Ashlyn smirked and pulled Ali in for a tight hug. “My dad really likes you.”

Ali shook her head. “No, he really loves you and he knows that you like me so he’s nice to me.”

Ashlyn scrunched her face in mock thought. “Nope, he just likes you because you’re you.”

Ali giggled. “I’m me?”

“Yeah, you’re incredible. Who doesn’t like you?”

Ali rolled her eyes and leaned up to peck Ashlyn on the cheek. “You should load up in the bus now, and I need to get back home. I’m exhausted.”

Ashlyn nodded, “Of course you are, baby. I’m sorry I made you come out here and help me pack. I know you don’t feel good. I appreciate it.”

Ali waved her off. “Don’t mention it. I wouldn’t have let you leave for three days without saying goodbye to me anyway.”

Ashlyn laughed and started walking Ali towards her car. “That’s true.” She said as she opened Ali’s door and helped her in. “Well, goodbye. I’ll miss you. Feel better soon so I can give you a thousand kisses when I get home.”

Ali giggled and blew her a kiss. “I promise. Bye, Ashlyn.” She said before letting Ashlyn shut her door and driving off.

~~ 

“Staring at your phone isn’t going to make her call you any faster.” Whitney teased as they both laid in their separate beds of the hotel room. 

“Shut up.” Ashlyn mumbled as she continued to look at her phone, anticipating Ali’s call. They had been texting earlier and Ali had promised to call at eleven, right around the time Ashlyn should be settling down for the night to go to bed.

“No way. You tease me about Gabe all the time. No way am I passing up a chance to tease you about your girlfriend.” Whitney responded.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Ashlyn corrected her little sister quickly.

Whitney shrugged, “Could have fooled me.”

“Maybe I should call her. She could have forgotten, or maybe she missed understood my text and she thought I was calling her.” Ashlyn rambled.

“Or maybe she fell asleep because she’s sick and is probably doped up on cold medicine.” Whitney mumbled into her pillow as she rolled over to try and go to sleep.

“Yeah, maybe.” Ashlyn said softly as she continued to stare at her phone until she finally feel asleep.

~~ 

Ashlyn woke up the next morning and immediately checked her phone…nothing.

She shot Ali a quick text. ‘Hey, just wanted to make sure that you were ok since you never called last night. Let me know that you got this message. Would love to hear your pretty voice sometime today. *kissy face emoji*’

She then got out of bed and hopped in the shower before her sister could. When she got out of the shower she noticed Whitney talking on her phone. 

“Who is it?” Ashlyn asked excitedly.

‘Ali’ Whitney mouthed to her and continued to listen to what was being said over the phone.

Ashlyn reached in, trying to grab her phone, but Whitney ducked quickly to get out of her reach. She held her hand up to signal she needed one more minute to finish up her conversation and Ashlyn crossed her arms as she impatiently waited to talk to Ali.

Whitney rolled her eyes. “Sorry, Ali, I have to give the phone to your girlfriend now or she’ll kill me.”

Ashlyn was exasperated by that point and just grabbed the phone out of her hand. “Don’t listen to anything she said while I was in the shower.” Ashlyn started off her conversation with Ali. “She’s a notorious liar.” Whitney rolled her eyes and grabbed her clothes before walking to the bathroom to also take a shower.

Ali giggled, “So I shouldn’t believe her when she said that you moped around all of last yesterday because you miss me.”

Ashlyn blushed and Ali knew it even if she couldn’t see her. “I wouldn’t say that I moped, but I did miss you.” She admitted.

“Good. I missed you too. And I’m really, super, sorry that I didn’t call last night. I took some medicine and laid down in my bed to curl up and watch a movie and next thing I know – BAM – it’s tomorrow and I didn’t call you. I feel really bad about it.

“Don’t worry about it. The important question here is, are you feeling any better?”

“Getting there. I have full confidence that I’ll be 100% by the time you get home.”

“I’m counting on it.” Ashlyn said in a suggestive tone and they both knew what she was implying.

Ali took a deep breath to calm herself before responding. “Looking forward to it.”

Ashlyn slightly groaned and ran a hand across her face. “god, I miss you.” 

Ali giggled. “I miss you too. Remember, wear the set of clothes that I have lying on top, all of your outfits are packed-”

“In the order that I will need them.” Ashlyn said, finishing her sentence. “I know, beautiful, don’t have to remind me.”

“Well maybe I like reminding you. Makes me feel useful even though I can’t be there.”

“Awww, I know. But think of it this way, you have the pleasure of missing out on a trip that Charlotte decided to attend.”

“Been rough?” Ali asked.

“Let’s just say that she snapped at me on the bus for breathing to loud. I needed you with me to be a buffer.”

“I’ll be there next time, promise. Now, go get ready. I’ll talk to you tonight, and that’s a guarantee. I’ll even set an alarm for 11 p.m. just incase I fall asleep.”

Ashlyn chuckled, “Whatever you want to do, Alex. Just make sure you continue to rest up today.”

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ 

The family attended a special memorial service at one of the State Cemeteries, honoring war veterans. It was a hot day outside so Ashlyn was pleased that Ali had thought to pack her a short sleeved shirt for today’s events. Ashlyn had figured out fairly quickly into this trip that Ali seemed to come to mind no matter what she happened to be doing. This baffled her, mainly because they had drawn the line in the sand pretty clearly. Ali was not her girlfriend. They liked each other. They kissed and held hands under tables, but they were not together. They couldn’t be, yet Ashlyn had followed Ali around for the past 8 days since they first kissed like a puppy with its owner. Ali had her on a leash and they both knew it. But still, Ali wasn’t her girlfriend, Ashlyn had made that very clear.

Now, the family was at a local restaurant, eating with lunch with the mayor of the city and his wife. Ali came to Ashlyn’s mind when she noticed that she got stuck at the table between the mayor and Charlotte. Ali would have been a buffer with Charlotte and would have fielded all of the mayor’s questions off of Ashlyn. Instead, Ashlyn had to conquer this lunch by herself.

“So, I hear you’re interested in politics.” The mayor said to Ashlyn, trying to strike up a conversation with the young woman.

“Well, if my father has his way then I guess I do.” Ashlyn said as a joke even though there was a deeper truth to it, earning her a kick to the leg from Charlotte.

The mayor laughed. “Oh, I bet that’s on his agenda. So, do you share the same political views as your father?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, mayor. I have some views that are very different from my father’s. But I’ll be the first to admit that I am still learning and I know that my opinions will grow and change before I ever consider running for office. But, I also promise you that when I do run for office one day, it will be because I have a set standard of values that I want to use to help make an impact in this world. It won’t be just because that’s what is expected of me.”

The mayor clapped her back and chuckled in good humor. He looked across the table at Mike. “Governor, this kid of yours has a fine head on her shoulder. Never try to change her. Do ya hear me?” 

Mike looked at his daughter and smiled proudly. “Trust me. I won’t.” he promised, looking straight as his daughter while making the promise.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Ashlyn jogged up the steps of Ali’s apartment building, eager to see the beautiful smile that she had been missing the past few days. She hadn’t even bothered to unpack when she got home. She simply threw her suitcase in her room before heading out to the grocery store and then over to Ali’s.

Now she was standing outside of Ali’s apartment, groceries in hand to make her and Ali dinner, waiting for the brunette to open the door.

Ali heard the knock on her door and immediately ran to her bathroom to check her hair, running her hand through it to make sure it was perfect, then she went to the door and took a deep breath before opening the it.

Ashlyn saw the door open and was breath taken by the smile that met her. “Wow.” Ashlyn breathed out.

Ali giggled. “Hey.”

Ashlyn chuckled. “I want to kiss you so bad, but I need to set these bags down first.” Ashlyn told her and held up the bags to show her.

“Of course, come in the kitchen.” Ali said letting Ashlyn in the door and leading her to the kitchen. 

Ashlyn set the grocery bags down and didn’t even give Ali time to react before capturing her in her arms and kissing her. 

The kiss took Ali by surprise at first but she quickly melted into it and wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck. 

“God, I missed that.” Ashlyn mumbled against Ali’s lips. 

“Mmmmm, I missed it too. You aren’t allowed to go on any more trips without me.”

“And you aren’t allowed to get sick ever again.”

“Ever?” Ali asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ever.” Ashlyn said leaning in to place another kiss on her lips. 

Ali giggled as they pulled away, “So you’re making me dinner?”

“Yep, my famous mac-n- cheese with baked chicken and a salad.”

“Sounds yummy. Who knew you were so domestic?” Ali teased. 

“Don’t get used to it, babe. This is because you’ve been sick. It’s your turn to cook next time.” Ashlyn winked.

Ali laughed and sat on the bar stool while Ashlyn started unpacking the bags. She set about cooking dinner, fumbling around the kitchen looking for things with Ali only laughing at her instead of telling her where things were. “Alright, giggle box, if you’re not going to help me then at least plug in some music. My ipod is in my back pocket.” Ashlyn told Ali as she continued to stir the sauce for the mac-n-cheese.

Ali hopped off the stool and grabbed her ipod speakers before going over to Ashlyn with a smirk on her face. “So where did you say your ipod was?”

“Back pocket.” Ashlyn said with a chuckle as she stuck her butt out at Ali.

Ali giggled, she saw the outline of the ipod in the blonde’s right pocket but she reached into the left pocket instead. “Nope not there.” Ali teased.

Ashlyn groaned. “Try the other one.”

Ali stuck her head in the right pocket and pulled the ipod out. “Oh, look, I found it!”

“Yeah, haha, funny Alex. Just plug it in.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it. You’ve got a cute butt.” She said as she plugged the ipod in and put it on shuffle before going back to sit on the barstool. 

Ashlyn didn’t bother to respond to that comment, she continued to cook until a very familiar song started playing. She smiled as she turned everything on the stove down to Lo, and walked over to Ali.

“What?” Ali asked as she saw Ashlyn approaching her with a look in her eye. 

“I was hoping you might dance with me.” Ashlyn said as she held out her hand for the brunette to take.

Ali smiled and took her hand, then she recognized the song playing over the speakers, “Brown eyed girl” by Van Morrison. 

They danced in a close hold until the chorus came up then Ashlyn spun Ali out before picking her up and setting her own the counter while she sung the lyrics to her own brown eyed girl. 

“Standing in the sunlight laughing  
Hide behind a rainbow's wall,  
Slipping and a-sliding  
All along the waterfall  
With you, my brown-eyed girl,  
You, my brown-eyed girl.

Do you remember when we used to sing  
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah  
Just like that  
Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah  
La dee dah.”

Ashlyn pulled her down after the first chorus and started spinning her around the room. The song ended and Ashlyn leaned against the counter, breathless, with Ali collapsed into her. They were both slightly laughing and Ashlyn had both hands wrapped around Ali’s waist. Ashlyn kissed the top of Ali’s hair sweetly and Ali sighed as she rested her head on the blonde’s chest and could hear her heart beating rapidly. 

“Am I your brown-eyed girl?” Ali asked in a whisper.

Ashlyn slightly winced at Ali’s question. She thought they had gone over this. Instead of answering she squeezed Ali’s waist tight and rested her chin on top of her head.

Ali pushed away slightly after a minute of silence. “No answer. I get it.”

Ashlyn panicked, sure that this was about to lead to another fight. “Ali wait.” She pleaded as she pulled the brunette back into her. “I guess… I guess I hope that you wouldn’t be anybody else’s except mine.”

Ali looked her in the eye, “Are you trying to avoid an argument or do you mean it?”

“Does it sound bad if I say ‘both’?” Ashlyn asked honestly, because she did mean that Ali was hers but at the same time Ali wasn’t hers, and Ashlyn didn’t want to cause a fight over it.

Ali sighed and rested her head back on Ashlyn’s chest. “No, it’s not bad. I just wish…” she trailed off and Ashlyn held her a little closer. 

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. You know that you are literally one of the most important things in my life right now and if I could make you mine then I would. No doubt. I just can’t, Alex. We’ve talked about this. I have to set my dad's campaign first.”

Ali took a deep breath and turned her head to bury it in Ashlyn’s neck, placing a gentle kiss to it. “I know...... We’re still having a night of kisses to make up time though, right?”

Ashlyn chuckled and lifted Ali’s head by her chin to place a sweet kiss to her lips. “Of course, princess, but you have to let me finish cooking dinner first. I can’t do everything I want to do on an empty stomach.” Ashlyn said with a wink and then let go of her to walk over to the oven and stove.


	4. Chapter 4

~~ One week later ~~

Ali rang the doorbell and she could here Ashlyn yell that she was coming. The huge door to the mansion swung open and Ashlyn had Ali wrapped up in her arms in a matter of seconds. Ashlyn picked her up by the back of her thighs until Ali wrapped her legs around the younger girl’s waist. 

Ali giggled into Ashlyn’s lips as she kissed her hungrily and closed the door with Ali still in her arms. “What’s gotten into you? What if your dad and Charlotte walk in?” Ali asked.

“They’re not here.” Ashlyn mumbled and continued to kiss Ali’s lips.

“Where are they?” 

“Dinner.” Ashlyn answered as she moved her lips down the older girl’s jaw.

“What about Whitney?” Ali asked another question.

“With them.” Ashlyn answered shortly, never letting her lips leave Ali’s skin.

“Why didn’t you go with them?” 

Ashlyn groaned. “Damn it, Ali. Can we stop playing 20 questions right now and take advantage of the time we have alone together?”

Ali giggled and pecked the blonde’s lips sweetly. “Sorry, I was just messing with you, babe.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and began to carry Ali up the stairs. 

“So is this really why you called me over? You had the house to yourself and decided that you wanted to make-out?” 

“Yes.” Ashlyn said plainly as she reached the top of the stairs and connected her lips to Ali’s again. 

They reached Ashlyn’s room after stopping every few steps because Ashlyn would get lost in her multi-tasking. When they reached Ashlyn’s room, the blonde groaned into the kiss when she noticed the door was shut. She roughly pinned Ali to the wall beside her door with her hips so her right hand could reach over to open the door. She got the door open but she was so turned on by the fact that she had Ali pinned to the wall that she didn't dare move them into the room. 

She kept her left hand on Ali’s ass to hold her up and captured both of Ali’s hands to pin them against the wall above Ali’s head.

“God, you look so damn sexy.” Ashlyn groaned as she kissed Ali’s collar bone.

Ali was breathing heavily and she pushed her body forward into Ashlyn’s, looking to relieve some of the tension building in her. “Bed.” was the only word Ali could get out before Ashlyn was lifting her hips only to bang Ali into the wall a little harder. 

Just as Ashlyn pushed Ali into the wall a frame hanging beside them crashed to the floor causing them both to pull apart. 

“Oh my god.” Ali whispered out as she looked at the painting on the ground with the frame broken.

Ashlyn looked at it and shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ll buy a new frame. No one with notice.” She assured Ali as she tried to reconnect their lips.

Ali pushed her back slightly. “No one will notice!? Ashlyn, that’s a 150 year-old painting!”

Ashlyn sighed and let Ali down from her grasp so they could examine the painting, the moment between them obviously broken. Ashlyn picked up the painting and examined it. "The canvas is still intact. No tears. Same ugly painting that it was before. I’ll see about getting a new frame tomorrow, don’t worry about it.”

Ali rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how Lee expects anyone to be able to keep you out of trouble.”

Ashlyn laughed and brought the picture into her bedroom to hide it for the time being. “Pah-lease, he knows that no one can keep me out of ALL trouble.”

Ali followed her into the room and sat on the bed. Ashlyn came over and hovered over her, “So where were we?” she asked with a smirk.

Ali pushed her away slightly. “Nu-uh, Harris. I’m not your booty call. Let’s finish watching the first season of BONES and order pizza.”

Ashlyn groaned and reached to her nightstand to grab her phone. “Fine. Do you want me to order the usual?”

“Yes, please.” Ali said as she gave her a kiss on the cheek and went to grab the set of season 1 dvds to put in the player.

Ashlyn finished placing their order and cuddled up on the bed beside Ali. “Since when did we start acting like an old married couple? We’re young adults, we should be out partying.”

Ali laughed and rested her head on Ashlyn’s shoulder. “I think you keep forgetting that it’s my job to keep you away from the parties.”

Ashlyn laughed along with her. “That’s true. I do forget.” She admitted as she placed a kiss to Ali’s temple and they enjoyed the rest of their night in peace. Ashlyn would deal with the painting tomorrow.

~~ ~~ 

“Shit.” Ashlyn groaned as she woke up in her own bed with Ali lying beside her. She looked over to the clock and noticed that it was 7 a.m. She debated for a moment whether not it would be rude to wake Ali now and ask her to leave so no one would notice later that she spent the night.

After thinking about it for a moment she decided against it. It’s not like they did anything other than watch tv, nothing different then she would do with a bestfriend…except kiss, they did a lot of that. She carefully removed Ali’s arm from on top of her and slowly climbed out of bed before making her way out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

“Good morning, Sweetheart!” her dad said cheerfully as he came into the kitchen while she was fixing two cups of coffee. She internally groaned knowing that he was likely to ask a question about it.

“Hey dad.” She tiredly mumbled out as she also grabbed two muffins. A blueberry for her and a chocolate for Ali.

“Double the food this morning?” he asked with a knowing raise of his eyebrow.

Ashlyn purposefully turned away from him when answering his question to grab the sugar. “Yep. Ali and I finished watching tv really late last night so she just stayed over.”

“In your room?” the governor asked.

“Yep.” Ashlyn responded as she fixed Ali’s coffee just the way she liked it.

“Look, Ashlyn, you know that I like Ali a lot. She seems really good for you, but, just like I wouldn’t let Whitney have Gabe sleep over, I don’t think I can approve of you having Ali sleep over under my roof. This is different than how it is at college. You have to set a good example for Whit.” 

Ashlyn pursed her lips and nodded, trying not to say something that would get her in trouble. “I get it, dad, but Ali and I aren’t dating. And there is also a big difference between me being 20 years-old and Whitney being 15. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid.”

“I know that you’re 20 and capable of making good decisions. I also know that Ali is a smart girl who will help you make good decisions because it’s her job, but don’t think I’m naïve, Ashlyn.” He warned softly.

“Like I said, Ali and I aren’t dating. Absolutely Nothing is happening there except friendship. We aren't doing anything that you think. I swear it.” Ashlyn stated one more time before grabbing the food and heading out of the kitchen. Right as she rounded the corner she spotted Ali standing there with tears in her eyes.

“Hey. I was bringing you some breakfast. What’s wrong?” Ashlyn asked with confusion written across her face.

Ali shook her head. “If I know anything about you, Ashlyn Harris, it’s that you don’t lie to your dad, at least not about big things like this.” She said pointing between the two of them. “Glad that I got to hear you swear to your father that there is absolutely nothing happening between us.” Ali spat throwing Ashlyn words back at her, and turning to head out of the mansion. 

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide as she realized what Ali had heard her tell her dad. The blonde quickly set down the coffees and muffins in her hand and ran to follow after Ali. “Alex, wait! You weren’t supposed to hear that. It was just something I said to get him to leave me alone!” She called after her before catching up to her and standing in front of the door so she couldn’t get out.

“Move, Ashlyn.” Ali said sternly.

“No.” Ashlyn said crossing her arms. “You’re staying here. You’re eating breakfast with me. We’re spending the day together and tomorrow we will go on the campaign trip together. That’s how this works, Ali. We get through all of this together. My dad wins this race and I’m yours. 100 percent. Promise.”

Ali shook her head and pushed Ashlyn out of the way. “I didn’t sign-up for this shit, Ashlyn. I’m here this summer to get political experience, not to be your play thing.” She said before walking out the door and towards her car. 

“FUCK!” Ashlyn yelled as she kicked at the wall and went towards the backyard slamming the door behind her. What the two girls didn’t know was that the Governor had seen the whole thing and quickly followed after Ali as he watched his daughter go out the back.

“Ms. Krieger!” Mike called after the brunette who was getting into her car.

Ali sighed, knowing that she couldn’t get out of talking to the governor. “Hi, Governor Harris. I was just leaving.”

Mike looked at her confused and Ali shuddered at how much Ashlyn’s expressions matched her father’s. “What’s with this Governor Harris crap? You haven’t called me that since the first day I met you.”

Ali gave him a sad smile. “I think it’s time for me to go back to a more formal position with your campaign. I’m going to ask Mr. Lee to transfer me back to the office.” 

“Is this because of my idiot daughter, because I know she can be a pain in the ass sometimes but she really is a good kid.” He said to her, prying for information even though he had seen the whole argument. 

Ali shook her head, trying to hold her tears back but the governor saw them anyway and quickly pulled the young woman into a hug. 

“It’s my fault.” He whispered to her. “Don’t put the blame on her. I started the conversation this morning that prompted her to defend herself. I knew how she felt about you and decided to push her into telling me something. You were right about what you said to her, except for one thing.”

Ali pulled back from the embrace and wiped at her tears. “What’s that?” she asked softly with a slight sniffle.

“You were right that she doesn’t lie to me about big things, EXCEPT when they are so important to her. You’re important to her, Ali, and… and she was just trying to make everyone happy. She wanted to have you, but she didn't want to disappoint me. And it's my fault that she felt like she would disappoint me if she told me that you two were together.”

Ali scoffed and chuckled a little bit. “Ashlyn doesn’t strike me as a people pleaser.”

Mike chuckled with her. “She’s not, except when it comes to the people that she loves.”

The comment caught Ali off guard but she nodded in understanding.

“So, will you still be joining us on our trip tomorrow? I would hate for Lee to be chewing Ashlyn out all of tomorrow for running you off.”

Ali giggled. “Yeah, I’ll be here. You’re heading to the city where my dad lives, so I would hate to miss it.”

“Great, maybe you and Ashlyn could get away for a few hours to visit your him.”

Ali leaned in and gave the older man a hug. “Thank you, Mr. Mike. And don’t tell Ashlyn that I’m coming tomorrow. Let her sweat it out a little bit.”

The governor chuckled. “I knew there was a reason why I liked you.” He said as he opened the car door for Ali and watched her get in.

~~ Next morning ~~

Ashlyn walked down the stairs carrying her duffle bag. She was looking down at her feet until her head shot up at a familiar voice.

“Don’t tell me that you actually tried packing your clothes for this trip without me.” Ali teased.

Ashlyn’s jaw dropped and she simply stared at the brunette.

“Did you pack the blue pant suit that we bought last week? That was for this trip.” Ali continued as she walked over to the blonde.

“I thought you were pissed at me. I called you like 7 times last night and you never answered.” Ashlyn finally said softly as Ali reached her and snuck her arms around her waist.

“I know. I should have let you know that it was going to be ok, but I really just wanted some time to think.” Ali told her.

“Anything in particular that changed your mind, like how much you love my kisses?” Ashlyn joked as she dropped the duffle bag from her hands and also wrapped her arms around Ali.

Ali giggled. “Actually, it was your dad. He came out and talked to me after our fight yesterday. He had heard the whole thing.”

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide. “He heard that?”

Ali nodded. “And he also mentioned that he already knew something was going on between us and he was just prying for information from you.”

“And he’s cool with us?” 

Ali shrugged. “He never came out and said that he was exactly 'cool' with it, but he did encourage me to come back. I think you should talk to him.”

Ashlyn shook her head. “No, that’s not how he and I work. We avoid topics. If he wants me stop then he says something, but if it’s a subject that he knows he has to be against but doesn’t want to be against then he just pretends he doesn’t know anything about it.”

Ali rolled her eyes. “This family is so confusing.”

“Good thing that you have me to talk you through it.” Ashlyn said as she placed a kiss to Ali’s forehead. “How about we run upstairs and you look through my bag to make sure I have everything.”

“Sounds great.” Ali said leaning up to peck the blonde’s lips and then leading them upstairs. “By the way, did you get that frame fixed?” she asked.

Ashlyn scratched at the back of her neck in nervousness. “Yeah, about that…”


	5. Chapter 5

Note – I have no idea about the structure of bridges. I just made crap up.

“Girls, you coming to this meeting?” The governor asked as he walked into the hotel conference room and saw Ali and Ashlyn talking in the corner.

“Yeah, dad. Hold on a minute.” Ashlyn said to him before turning back to Ali.

The governor rolled his eyes and waited for a moment before sighing and asking another question as he noticed the two girls looking diligently at a notebook in Ali’s hand. “What are you two even doing?”

“Nothing.” Ashlyn said as she stood from her chair and then offered Ali a hand up from her chair.

They started walking towards the bus and Mike raised an eyebrow at Ali in question and Ali let Ashlyn continue walking as she fell in step with the governor. “What were y’all doing over there?”

Ali giggled. “She would hate it if I told you.”

“Good thing that I won’t tell her that I know.”

“She asked if I could brief her on the meeting we are attending today. She didn’t want to ‘look stupid,’ her words, not mine.”

Mike laughed. “Oh god. I bet that was fun.”

Ali smiled to herself. “It actually was kind of fun. The first meeting is about the state funding the building of that new bridge. Ashlyn was looking at the blueprints and seemed genuinely interested.”

The older man nodded but didn’t bother to ask any more questions.

They got to the bus and Ashlyn pulled out the notebook with a copy of the blueprints in it. She was looking at it carefully with a confused look on her face.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Ali asked as she sat beside her.

Ashlyn shook her head. “It’s nothing. I’m just trying to figure out the angle degree for the main support beam in the bridge.”

Ali chuckled and snuggled into Ashlyn’s side. “You are such a nerd when it comes to architecture.” She teased.

Ashlyn only shrugged and smiled, still thinking about the bridge plans.

The meeting was running smoothly when the mayor of Lynchburg brought up the new bridge that the state would be funding.

“So have you had the chance to look at the plans?”

“I have. It looks very good and I know that it will be helpful to the city.” Governor Harris responded.

The mayor smiled proudly. “Well, we have our best men on the job. I think the bridge will be beautiful.”

Ashlyn pulled out the plans and examined them one more time before speaking. “So these are the final plans? No changes will be made to it before construction starts?” she asked and the whole room turned to her, shocked that she actually spoke.

The mayor gave her a polite smile. “That is my understanding. We are set to start construction next week.”

Ashlyn nodded. “Well then I think you need to find a new architect because he sacrificed structural stability to give you a pretty bridge.” The blonde said plainly.

The mayor looked shocked and the eyes of everyone else in the room immediately went wide. Mr. Lee gave Ali a look as if to say, ‘do your job and control her’, but Ali was too interested in what Ashlyn had to say to stop her.

“Excuse me? We have the best architect in the city working on this project. He was the architect for the very building we are sitting in right now.” the mayor told her.

Ashlyn looked around the room at the structure. “And it seems like a well-built building but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a fault in his bridge design. Maybe he should just stick to buildings.” Ashlyn said in a tone that indicated she didn’t like the mayor’s attitude towards her.

By this time Ali knew that she had to say something to Ashlyn in order to keep her job. “Ashlyn.” She whispered. “Are you sure about this?”

Ashlyn looked at her straight in the eyes. “Yes, and you know I am. I’ve shown you my bridge prints before. What is the one thing that can be seen on my prints that you don’t see on this?” Ashlyn asked her as she pointed to the blueprint.

Ali studied it carefully. “Ashlyn, I don’t know architecture. Just tell everybody what you’re talking about.”

Ashlyn huffed and stood up to grab a clean sheet of paper from the printer in the corner and snatched the pen out of her dad’s hand and began to draw. As she roughly sketched on the paper, she explained herself to the group. “The angle degree for the main support beam in the bridge is unstable. He has it coming in at 30 degrees, as he clearly has marked on his blueprint, when any architect should know that a 45 degree angle is the lowest angle that can be used for stability purposes.”

“And you know this how?” the mayor asked, dumbfounded that the young woman was challenging him on this.

“I’m an architecture major at Harvard.” Ashlyn said with a shrug before passing the drawing that she had been working on over to the mayor. “If you don’t believe me then at least ask another architect for their opinion. If they agree with me then I suggest you show that rough draft to them and ask them to draw up some plans. My sketch keeps the basic structure of the bridge with a few minor details changed in appearance to give it a sound support structure.”

The mayor looked to the governor in disbelief. “This will put us behind on construction. This is ridiculous.”

The governor shrugged, “I don’t think that matters when we are talking about the safety of the people who will be traveling on that bridge. If you plan for the state to fund it then you will have another architect look at it and my staff will personally talk to that architect to make sure everything is order before approving construction.”

Ashlyn smiled widely at her dad, not believing that he had actually just taken her side on this.

The mayor nodded. “I understand. We’ll have someone look at it immediately.”

“Good. I think that was the last item we had to discuss. So, I believe we will see you at the party tonight.” Mike said as he stood from the table and was followed by the rest of his staff.

They all started walking back to the bus and Ali wrapped an arm tightly around Ashlyn. “I’m so proud of you.”

Ashlyn smiled shyly. “Thank you, baby.” She whispered in Ali’s ear as she pulled away from the hug and let Ali lead them into the bus.

“That was a good observation.” Mike said to his daughter as he sat down in his chair on the bus and pulled out his iphone.

“Thanks, dad.”

Ali looked between the two Harris’ curiously. She couldn’t believe that all Mike would say to his daughter about something like that was, ‘good observation.’ For once Ashlyn had taken an interest in one of his meetings and her knowledge on architecture had been proven valuable. She thought that the blonde deserved a little more praise from her dad than ‘good observation’.

“So, dad, I was hoping that Ali and I could get away this afternoon and go visit her dad. Is that ok?” Ashlyn asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine, sweetheart. Just make sure y’all are back before the party tonight.” The governor said, never looking up from his phone.

~~

They got back to the hotel and Ali called her dad and step-mom to make sure that it was ok that they come over. Ken quickly agreed to them coming over and even said that they would have lunch ready when they got there.

“Soooo, should I be worried about meeting your dad?” Ashlyn asked as their cab pulled up to the Krieger house.

“No. I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not like you’re my girlfriend or anything.” Ali said as she looked up at her dad’s house before opening the cab door and getting out.

Ashlyn was stunned momentarily at Ali’s words before following her out of the car. “You’re right, I’m not your girlfriend, but I will be one day. Which means that your dad needs to like me.” Ashlyn said grabbing Ali’s hand as they walked up the sidewalk.

Ali scoffed. “And what makes you think that I’ll be your girlfriend one day?”

Ashlyn smirked at her and leaned in to peck her lips. “Because I’m adorable and you can’t resist me.”

Ali rolled her eyes and leaned in to place one more kiss on the blonde’s lips before knocking on the door. “Don’t push it.” She mumbled to her and turned to the door to wait for someone to open it.

“Alibug!” A man that Ashlyn assumed was Ali’s dad answered the door.

“Hey, daddy!” Ali said giving him a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you. Glad to see the governor gave you the afternoon off.”

“Me too! Speaking of the governor, I want to introduce you to his daughter, Ashlyn.” Ali told her dad as she reached back to grab Ashlyn’s hand and pull her closer.

“Hello Mr. Krieger. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Ashlyn greeted as she extended her hand to him.

Ken took her hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you also, Ashlyn.” He then looked at the girls joined hands and raised an eyebrow at them. “Seems like I have plenty of reasons to get to know you. You better hope that I like you.”

Ashlyn looked down at their hands and blushed, taking a side step away from Ali which caused the brunette to drag her back by her hand. “Be nice, daddy.” Ali said as she pulled Ashlyn into the house.

Ken laughed and clapped Ashlyn on the back. “I’m just joking. If my daughter likes you then you should already know that I like you. My daughter has good judgment.”

Ashlyn took a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you, sir.”

“Call me Ken.”

Just as they rounded the corner of the living room a set of two little feet could be heard running through the house. “ALI!!!” they screamed as they came towards her, each one crashing into one of her legs.

Ali giggled and picked them up in a big hug before setting them down. “Hey, boys. I missed y’all.”

“Missed you too.” Noah, the shier of Ali’s twin brothers, mumbled to her.

Ashlyn noticed Ali give the boy who spoke to her an extra smile as the other little boy started tugging on the blonde’s hand.

Ashlyn looked down and caught a glimpse of beautiful brown eyes that were identical to Ali’s. They must get those from their dad, Ashlyn thought as she smiled down at the boy. “Hey, munchkin. What’s your name?”

“Luca.” He told her confidently and held his hand out for a handshake.

Ashlyn grinned at the gesture and gave him a handshake. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Luca. I’m Ashlyn. I’m friends with your big sister.”

Luca nodded and looked at her quizzically. “Ok.” He said before turning away from her and heading towards his mom, who had just walked in the room.

Ashlyn smiled as he walked away and looked to Ali who was holding Noah on her hip. “Ok, one down, one to go. Who’s this little guy?” she asked as she took a step to them and held her hand out to the shy little boy.

Noah didn’t take her hand but Ashlyn didn’t think much of it. “Hi, I’m Ashlyn.” She introduced herself, hoping that the boy would supply her with his name, even though she knew that this one must be Noah because she had just met Luca.

Instead of responding to her, he buried his little head in his sister’s neck. Ali gave Ashlyn an apologizing smile. “He’s a little shy, but this one is --”

“Noah.” Ashlyn finished and the boy turned his head back to the blonde, surprised that she knew his name.

“Right.” Ali said with a smile as she noticed that Ashlyn had caught her little brother’s attention.

“Well, Noah, it’s great to meet you. Your sister has told me all about you. I even heard that you really like Captain America, and guess what? He’s my favorite super hero too!”

The little boy’s eyes went wide. “He’s strong and super fast.” He informed her.

“I know! And he’s a soldier. Soldiers are real heroes.” Ashlyn told him.

“Want to play?” he asked quietly.

Ashlyn grinned goofily at him. “I would love too.” She said honestly and held her hands out so Ali could pass the boy to her.

Ali admired how Ashlyn had paid attention to the things she had told her about her brothers and quickly passed the boy over. Ashlyn headed towards the cars, trucks, blocks, and action figures that were lying on the living room floor and set the boy down beside his brother who was now playing also.

Ashlyn was about to sit on the floor and join in when she noticed Ali’s step-mom, Stephanie. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself.” Ashlyn said as she went to shake Steph’s hand.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just amazed that Noah took to you so quickly. Keep playing or you might lose him.” Steph insisted.

“Oh, ok.” Ashlyn said as she went back to the boys and sat down on the floor.

Ali smiled at Ashlyn playing with her little brothers before moving to give Steph a hug.

“Lunch should be ready in a few minutes if you want to stay in here and catch up with the boys. I’ll have to put them down for nap after lunch so now is the best time to play with them.”

Ali nodded. “Sounds great. Are you sure that you don’t need help in the kitchen?”

Steph smirked playfully at her and nudged her shoulder. “That’s what your dad is for.”

Ali giggled and nodded her head before heading over to the two little kids and one big kid over on the floor.

They played and laughed with the boys. And, much to Ali’s surprise, Noah had taken up permanent residence in Ashlyn’s lap as they played.

“I think he likes you.” Ali whispered to the blonde as they walked towards the dining room with Ali holding Luca’s hand and Ashlyn holding Noah’s hand.

Ashlyn just shrugged and looked down to the little boy holding her hand. “Did I ever mention that Whitney used to be this shy?”

Ali scoffed. “Whitney Elizabeth Harris? Shy? I don’t believe you.”

Ashlyn chuckled. “I’m telling you the truth. She didn’t really start to grow out of it until she was in her pre-teens like 11-12ish. The Whitney you know today is not the same Whitney I grew up with.”

They entered the dining room to a table full of food. “Wow! This looks amazing.” Ashlyn said as they scanned the table.

“It really does. You shouldn’t have gone to all of this trouble, Steph.” Ali said as she helped Luca into a chair and pointed out the chair that Ashlyn should put Noah in.

Steph waved her hand at her. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like we have the governor’s daughter eat lunch with us every day.”

Ali playfully rolled her eyes. “Please don’t feed her ego! That’s the last thing I need to deal with.” Ali joked.

Everyone laughed and took their seats. “Well, I hope this isn’t the last time I get the chance to eat with y’all. I would love to be in Ali’s life for a long time.” Ashlyn said sincerely and chanced a look at Ali. Ali was staring at her with her eyes wide open. Ashlyn was never the one to talk about anything past the next week, Ashlyn saying that she was hoping to see Ali’s family again was huge for them!

“You two are so cute! How long have you been dating?” Steph asked as she cut up both of the twins’ food.

Ashlyn choked on the sip of water she had just taken and Ali shot her eyes to Ashlyn. Steph looked at them confused until she finally caught on. “Oh, I stuck my foot in my mouth didn’t I?” she asked as she looked between the two women who were shifting in their seats awkwardly.

“No, not all. It’s just…” Ashlyn didn’t know how to finish.

“We’re not dating.” Ali said quickly and plainly as she grabbed her fork and began cutting into her food.

“Is there a reason you haven’t asked my girl out?” Ken joked to Ashlyn, not sensing the growing tension between the girls as well as his wife had.

Ashlyn coughed and adverted her gaze away from Ali. “I uhh… I’m not in the position to do that at this time, sir. I don’t think your daughter deserves to be in a relationship that she has to keep secret or that she would have to watch me deny, so I have asked her to be patient with me.”

Ali scoffed still picking at her food but didn’t say anything.

Steph and Ken cut their eyes at each other knowing that they had stepped into a touchy subject. “So how did the meeting go that you had this morning?” Ken asked to change the subject.

Ali looked up at her dad. “Well, I’m actually really proud of Ashlyn. She pointed out a huge error in construction design on a new bridge the mayor was so proud to show off. It was kind of fun to watch Ashlyn put the mayor in his place.”

Ken chuckled. “Glad to know you did. I didn’t vote for that son of a b-”

“Ehh” Steph stopped him.

Ken shut his mouth and thought for a second. “I didn’t vote for that idiot anyway.” He revised.

“Idiot!” Luca cheered and both of his parents groaned while Ali and Ashlyn laughed.

They finished up lunch and Ali offered to put the boys down for their nap so she would have one more chance to be with them. Noah, who was still attached to Ashlyn, asked if she could join. Ali reluctantly agreed and Ashlyn followed the brunette and the twins up the stairs.

“I’ll go put Luca down in his room. Why don’t you take Noah in his room and I’ll be in there in a second. He usually takes longer than Luca.”

Ashlyn nodded and had the little boy show her where his room was. Ali walked in Noah’s room about 10 minutes later to find Ashlyn sitting on the floor, leaning against the boy’s bed, with Noah fast asleep in her arms.

“How did you manage that?” Ali asked as she sat on the floor beside her.

Ashlyn shrugged. “I don’t know. We were talking one minute and he fell asleep the next.”

“I’m impressed.” Ali admitted as she let her head rest on Ashlyn’s shoulder.

“Are we going to talk about lunch?” Ashlyn asked her.

“What’s there to talk about? It was delicious.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “And you say that I like to avoid things.”

“What if I was ok with having to keep our relationship a secret? What if I didn’t care that you had to deny it? I want to be yours and I want to know that you are mine. You say that I don’t deserve to have our relationship be a secret, but I don’t think that I deserve to not even have a real relationship with you.”

“Don’t you get it, Ali? It wouldn’t be a real relationship.”

Ali shook her head. “Being with you, being your girlfriend, having our family know that we are dating is all that I need, Ash. I love you and I just want to be with you. No matter the circumstances.”

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide. “You…you love me?

Ali looked at her confused until she realized what she had said. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Ash. I know we’re not there. God we aren’t even dating. Fuck, I’m sorry.”

Ashlyn giggled and Ali looked at her with a slight tinge of anger. “Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny.”

“Sorry, babe, it’s just that you just said two curse words in front of your little brother. But it’s ok because I think I love you too.”

“So? He’s aslee-.” Ali started before going into shock and darting her eyes quickly to Ashlyn’s. “Wait. You love me?”

Ashlyn nodded. “How do you feel about being my girlfriend?”

“I would love to be your girlfriend.” Ali smiled widely at her.

“Even if it has to stay a secret for a few more months?” Ashlyn asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ali rolled her eyes and leaned in to place a kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. “You should already know that I don’t care about that.”

“Good. Now help me get your brother in his bed. My arm is falling asleep.”

Ali giggled and took her little brother from the blonde’s arms and placed him in his bed before pulling the covers up over him and placing a kiss to his forehead. They stood their looking at the sleeping little boy for a second before Ashlyn wrapped her arms around the brunette from behind. “I meant what I said to your step-mom. I hope to be around for a long time.”

Ali turned her head to place a kiss to Ashlyn’s cheek. “Good. I’m counting on seeing you as Madam President one day.”

Ashlyn laughed and gave her a tight squeeze. “Oh god, baby. If you’re looking to be the next first lady then you might be barking up the wrong tree.”

Ali giggled. “That’s fine. I liked seeing the architect side of you today anyway. It was sexy.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Hey! You did great, sweetheart. Sounded just like a future politician.” The governor greeted Ashlyn as she walked into one of the meeting rooms at the hotel they were staying in. 

Ashlyn had just gotten back from a radio interview and the Governor and Mr. Lee had made sure to listen in. 

“Thanks, dad, but you really need to thank Ali. She’s been prepping me like crazy for all of these interviews. I wake up in the morning and I have email after email containing different articles I need to read to brief myself. It’s crazy. I don’t know when that woman sleeps!” Ashlyn explained as she plopped down in a chair by her dad. 

Ali and Ashlyn had been ‘dating’ for a month now. It was nearing the end of July and they were both eagerly looking forward to the election in November. All of Ali’s family and close friends knew that the two were an item but they kept it to themselves around Ashlyn’s family. Of course, the governor knew something was going on, he just didn’t know it was official, and Whitney had walked in on them in enough compromising positions to know that they were - ‘totally doing it’ as the teenager put it. Because they were dating, Ali felt that it was her responsibility that Ashlyn meet all of the expectations of a governor’s daughter. She had Ashlyn at almost every charity event she was invited too and was scheduling her interviews and prepping her accordingly. To say Mr. Lee was pleased with how Ali seemed to easily handle Ashlyn would be an understatement, he was ecstatic. 

Mike chuckled. “I’ve always told you that I like her. So where is she anyway? Didn’t she go to the interview with you?”

“She did.” Ashlyn nodded. “She’s on the phone with her brother outside. He had tried to call earlier but we were busy.”

“Oh, well, maybe now is a good time to tell you this since it’s just the two of us.”

Ashlyn’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What’s up?”

“I don’t want you to freak out or anything, but Charlotte called earlier and told me that they had to take Whitney to the hospital. It looks like her appendix needs to be removed.”

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide and she quickly stood from her chair, grabbing her phone out of her jacket pocket. “Why didn’t I hear about this sooner!?” she raised her voice as she noticed no one had tried to contact her on her cell.

“You were busy, Ash. But she’s fine. She’ll have surgery soon, just a routine thing and she’ll be good as new.” The governor gave his daughter a small smile. 

Ashlyn shook her head. “And who the hell is with her!? She needs me. You should have called me as soon as you found out! Or at least you should have called Ali, she could have told me when I got finished with the interview. I need to get home.” She said starting towards the door.

“I think you’re over reacting here, baby girl. Charlotte is with her, she’s not alone. We’ll be home in three days and you can baby her all you want when we get there.”

Ashlyn turned back to her dad with a tightened jaw. “If you think for one second that Whitney is fine with just having Charlotte with her then you don’t know your daughter. Ali and I are leaving. My little sister needs me.” She said before walking out the door and slamming it behind her. 

Ali walked in from her phone call with her brother and saw her girlfriend rushing off towards their room. “Ashlyn!” she called after her but the blonde didn’t hear her, she was on a mission. Ali hurried after her and entered their hotel room to find Ashlyn throwing their stuff into suitcases. “Are we going somewhere?” Ali asked confused.

“Home.” Ashlyn responded as she zipped her suitcase and then continued to pack Ali’s stuff away. 

“Are you going to tell me why?” Ali said as she stood back and just watched Ashlyn throw her clothes in the bag.

“Whitney…hospital…appendix.” Ashlyn said as she ran into the bathroom to grab their stuff out of there. “Can you make a phone call to get us a rental car?” she asked walking back into the bedroom.

“Sure. But is Whitney ok?” Ali asked in concern. 

Ashlyn shook her head and sat down on the bed in exhaustion and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know. My dad barely knew anything other than it was her appendix and they were going have to remove it. He didn’t even think I should go! But I shouldn’t be the only one wanting to go! He should want to be there to!” 

“I know, baby. I know.” Ali soothed as she came to stand by Ashlyn and rub her back soothingly. “Let’s get finished packing and get you to your sister. Ok?”

Ashlyn nodded her head and stood up, wrapping Ali into a hug. She held Ali tight and kissed her neck. “I love you.” She whispered slightly as Ali resumed rubbing her back.

“I love you too.” Ali said back before they separated and Ali started worrying about how to get them back to Richmond.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Ashlyn practically ran into the hospital when Ali parked the car. She found one of her father’s security guards and asked where her sister was. “Room 431. There is another security guard up there.”

Ashlyn nodded her thanks and quickly went to the elevator and pushed the up button furiously until she felt a hand wrap around her wrist to stop her. “Pushing the button won’t make the elevator come any faster.” Ali told her.

Ashlyn sighed. “I know.”

They stood there for a moment in silence until the elevator doors opened and they stepped in. They reached the room and found another security guard. “Is she out of surgery yet?” Ashlyn asked him.

“Yes, ma’am. But the doctor said not to expect her to wake up for a little while longer.”

Ashlyn nodded. “And Charlotte is in there with her?” she asked, preparing herself for having to put up with her step-mother through this whole ordeal. 

“No, ma’am. She had an obligation to speak at a women’s luncheon. She left while Ms. Whitney was in surgery.”

Ali could see the muscles around Ashlyn’s jaw start to pulse as she clenched it shut. Anger flashed in the blonde’s eyes and Ali quickly grabbed her hand to calm her down. 

“That bitch.” Ashlyn muttered out. 

“Ashlyn, baby, you need to stay calm.” Ali whispered to her.

“Stay calm!” Ashlyn yelled. “Who in the fucking world leaves a 15 year old girl all alone while she’s in surgery?! What was she thinking? What if Whitney had woken up ALONE! Alone, Alex. She left her alone!” 

Ali wrapped her arms around her girlfriend to try and keep her from pacing. “Ashlyn, we are in a public place. This isn’t the time to be talking about Charlotte.”

“God, Ali. For one minute could you stop doing your job and just be as outraged at Charlotte as I am. I know this pisses you off to!” the blonde said loudly as she pushed her way out of her girlfriend’s arms.

“Of course it does!” Ali slightly raised her voice. “That doesn’t mean I think it’s the whole hospital’s business. Now get in your sister’s room and we’ll talk about it in there.” She said sternly.

Ashlyn huffed and forcefully slung the door open and went in the room. Ali took a deep breath and gave the security guard a small smile as an apology for having to listen to that before following her girlfriend into the room.

Ashlyn immediately went to sit in the chair by Whitney’s bed and Ali came to stand behind her placing a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we try talking about it now?” Ali said softly to her.

Ashlyn sighed, “There’s not that much to talk about. Charlotte is a selfish bitch. The important thing is that we are here now and that’s all that Whit needs.”

“Are you going to tell your dad that Charlotte wasn’t here?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “I don’t know. He probably wouldn’t even believe me, or he would just accept whatever bullshit excuse she gives him. No luncheon should be more important than being here when Whitney literally didn’t have anyone else.”

Ali began to rub her back and Ashlyn leaned into her touch before finally reaching behind her and pulling Ali into her lap. “I love you.” Ashlyn whispered as she placed a kiss to Ali’s cheek. 

“I love you too.” 

About that time a nurse walked in and paused as she saw that Whitney had family with her now. “Hi.” Ashlyn said to her.

“Hi. I’m sorry to interrupt. I was just coming to check on her. I knew that she didn’t have any family here earlier.” The nurse explained.

Ali smiled sweetly at the nurse and stood from Ashlyn’s lap. “We appreciate it. We just arrived. We’re assuming the surgery went fine?”

The nurse nodded. “It did, everything went completely fine. When she wakes up you can just press the button for a nurse and then the doctor will come in to check on her and talk to you all.”

Ashlyn smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” The nurse gave them one last smile and left the room.

Ashlyn pulled Ali back into her lap as the door closed behind the nurse. “Two more weeks.” She sighed out as she pulled Ali close.

Ali looked at her confused. “What?”

“Two more weeks until I go back to Harvard and then a week after that you start classes back at Georgetown. We’ll be really separated for the first time since we met.” Ashlyn explained.

“Oh.” Ali’s face dropped. “Is that going to be a problem?” she asked slightly concerned about Ashlyn bringing this up.

“Doubt it will be. You have her wrapped around your finger.” they heard Whitney’s voice croak out from beside them. 

They both whipped their heads toward her. “You’re awake!” Ali said excitedly as she jumped out of Ashlyn’s lap and approached the teenager’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok. Tired.” Whitney said quietly.

Ashlyn chuckled and came to stand by Ali. “Well I bet you’ll feel like shit when the drugs wear off, kid.”

“You’re not helping.” Ali said as she jabbed Ashlyn in the side with her elbow and then pressed the button for the nurse. 

The nurse and doctor came in and checked Whitney out, assuring Ashlyn and Ali that the girl was going to be fine before leaving them all alone. 

The three girls sat around talking and joking for a while before Ashlyn finally announced that she was hungry. “I think I’m going to go to the McDonald’s across the street. Do you want anything, Alex?”

“Chicken nuggets, kids meal though because I’m not that hungry.”

“Fries or fruit cup?”

“Fries.”

“And sprite to drink, right?”

“Yep.” 

“Ok. I’ll be back in a little bit. Watch her close. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to escape.” Ashlyn joked as she placed a parting kiss to Ali’s cheek.

“Hey! I wouldn’t run, and by the way, I’m insulted that you didn’t ask me if I wanted anything.” Whitney countered.

Ashlyn chuckled. “It’s not like you can eat fastfood, stupid. Be good for Ali. I’ll be right back.” She told her sister before walking out the door.

Whitney rolled her eyes. “Are you sure that you’re in love with her? Because I would totally understand if you’ve changed your mind.”

Ali giggled and shrugged. “Unfortunately I think she has me captured.”

“Love.” Whitney sighed. “I just don’t understand it.”

“What? You and Gabe haven’t said the L-word yet?” Ali teased.

Whitney shook her head. “We broke up actually.”

“What? When?” Ali asked in surprise.

“Last week.” Whit said as she looked down at her hands and began to play with the blanket covering her.

“Does Ashlyn know? Because she hasn’t said anything to me.”

Whitney’s head shot up. “No! God no. She would ask a hundred questions and then show up at his house threatening to beat him up. My goal is to keep it from her until she’s gone back to college.”

“Would she have a reason to beat him up?” Ali asked seriously concerned that maybe the boy did something bad.

Whitney shrugged. “No, not really. I mean... he just couldn’t handle dating me while my dad is in the middle of a campaign. We had to watch every party that we went to and everything else. We couldn’t just go out like all of our friends. I don’t blame him for getting tired of it.”

Ali sighed and came to sit by the younger girl on the bed and wrapped an arm around her. “Well, it sounds like he wasn’t the right guy for you anyway. The right guy wouldn’t care about that stuff because he would have you.”

Whitney smiled and leaned in to her sister’s girlfriend a little. “I meant what I said earlier. You don’t have to worry about being separated from Ash. She’s yours because, unlike Gabe, you understand what this life is like and you love her through it. She won’t let you go that easily.” 

Ali nodded and took a moment to think. “Not that I don’t trust your sister, but you and I both know that she has a reputation. You’ve known her a lot longer than I have, are you sure I don’t have anything to worry about?” 

Whitney shook her head and pulled back from the brunette to look her in the eyes. “She’s loves you, Ali, and she doesn’t hurt the people she loves.”

Ali could see the honesty in the younger girl's eyes and relief washed over her as she gave Whitney a big smile.

“I’m back!” Ashlyn announced as she threw open the door and held up a bag of food. 

“Good!” Ali said as she hopped off the bed. 

“What did you girls talk about while I was gone?” Ashlyn asked as she set the bag and drinks down and began to pull out the food. 

“Not much.” Ali answered quickly as she came over to her girlfriend.

Ashlyn raised an eyebrow at her. “You sure?”

“Yep!” Ali said as she placed a quick peck to the blonde’s lips and grabbed her food. "Thank you for the food, baby."

Ashlyn shrugged and let it go.

~~ ~~ Two Weeks Later ~~ ~~

Ali followed Ashlyn as they took her last suitcase to the car. “Guess this is it.” Ashlyn observed as she closed the trunk. 

“What am I supposed to do during my last week without having to take care of you?” Ali sulked as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

Ashlyn chuckled and placed a kiss to Ali’s hair. “Hey, no sulking. I’ll be in D.C. for my fall break and you’ll be in Boston for your fall break. Then we just have to wait till November and I’ll scream from the roof tops that I’m in love with you.”

Ali rested her head on Ashlyn shoulder. “November can’t come soon enough.”

“I know, baby.” Ashlyn whispered in understanding as she gave Ali a tight squeeze. 

“You ready to go?” Mike asked as he came out of the Governor’s mansion and walked to the car, ready to take his oldest daughter to the airport.

“Yeah, dad. One more minute.” The blonde said, signaling one finger at him.

“I got to go now. I’ll call you when I land.” she said turning back to Ali.

“And we’ll talk every day?”

“Swear it!” Ashlyn crossed her heart. 

“And no parties, ok? At least not until after the election. Any time your friends start to go out, you just call me and I’ll distract you while they have fun without you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” There was a silence between them for a moment until Ashlyn placed a kiss to Ali’s nose. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.” Ashlyn said as she moved in to give Ali a kiss on the lips but Ali but her hand up to stop her. 

“Your dad will see us.” Ali whispered.

Ashlyn giggled and pulled Ali in close and crushed her lips in a passionate kiss. “I don’t care. Bye, I love you.” Ashlyn said one more time.

Ali blushed and pecked her lips quickly. “I love you too.” She said as they parted ways and Ashlyn got in the car. Ali stood back and waved as the car drove off before getting in her car and driving towards the campaign office to get a new assignment for her last week of work. Ashlyn was no longer a part of her job, Ashlyn was just her girlfriend now. She smiled at the thought.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter. I had thought about spreading it into two chapters but I decided to just do one which is why I didn't get it out this weekend. Thanks for reading! I really enjoyed writing this story because it was so different. Hope you liked it as well!

~~ October ~~

Ashlyn saw that her dad was calling her and scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “Hello?” she answered her phone.

“Hey, sweetheart!” the governor said a cheerful voice.

“Hey, dad. What’s up?” she asked as she set her book down on her bed and concentrated on the phone call. 

“I just wanted to confirm what day you’ll be coming home for fall break.”

Ashlyn’s eyes shot open. “Dad, I’m not coming home for fall break, I’m going to see Ali during break. I told you that.” Ashlyn tried to calmly explained, she had a feeling that this conversation was about to not go her way.

“But didn’t you just see Ali last week?” he asked.

“I did, but that was during her fall break. I’m supposed to go visit her during my fall break next week. That was the deal between us.”

Mike sighed, “Mr. Lee expects for you to be at the Governor’s ball, sweetie. He noticed that it was during Harvard’s fall break and told me to call you.”

“Governor’s ball!? Hell no! I’m not going to that stupid thing where I would have to wear a dress and can't bring a date. I’m going to D.C. I’m not coming home.” Ashlyn said firmly. 

“Look, Ashlyn. I think that Ali would understand that you need to be here. Just call her. Now, what day will you be home?” 

Ashlyn sighed, knowing that she was defeated. “Friday.”

The governor could hear the sadness in his daughter’s voice. “I really am sorry, Ash. Tell Ali I’m sorry also. I know that you haven’t gotten to see eachother much since you both went back to school.”

“No. We haven’t, dad. Actually, the only time I’ve gotten to see her was when she came up here. So I can imagine you know why I’m upset that you’re making me go to that stupid ball instead of letting me see my girlfriend!” Ashlyn said in a loud and frustrated tone.

“Girlfriend?” Mike asked his daughter softly. “She’s definitely your girlfriend? Not just a friend?”

Ashlyn buried her face in her hands as she took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she just told her dad like that. “Yeah, dad. Ali’s my girlfriend, but she understands that it has to be a secret for right now. Don’t worry. You’re precious campaign is safe.”

Mike’s heart sunk at his daughter’s words. “How…how long have you been dating? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We’ve been dating since the middle of the summer. And why didn’t I tell you? Because Lee would have found out and he would have done something stupid to make sure we didn’t see each other and ruin your campaign.” 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. If I had known - ”

“Don’t, dad.” Ashlyn interrupted him. "Forget it. I’ll be at the ball. Ali will understand. Your campaign is more important. Bye.” She said, hanging up the phone before he had a chance to say anything else. 

“No, it’s not more important.” The governor whispered to himself as he set his phone down.

~~ ~~

“You can’t come?” Ali said quietly, the sadness evident in her tone over the phone.

Ashlyn hated herself for having to do this. “No, I can come. I just won’t be there the whole week. We’ll lose about 4 days. Instead of flying into D.C on Friday, I’ll fly to Richmond. The Governor’s ball is on Sunday which means I can drive to D.C on Monday and spend the rest of the week with you.” Ashlyn explained.

Ali sighed, “But I’ll have classes all during the week. The weekend was going to be my only time where I could give you all of my attention, and you have to leave the next weekend to fly back to Boston so we don’t have that either!” 

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. If I could get out of this then I would.”

“I know.” Ali said softly.

“Hey, don’t be sad. At least we get to see each other soon. That’s better than nothing, right?”

“Yeah.” Ali agreed with a small smile appearing on her lips.

“Good. I got to go, but I love you, Alex, and I can’t wait to see you soon.”

“I love you too.” Ali said as they hung up.

~~ Friday night before the Ball ~~

The Harris’ were sitting around the dining table having dinner together. Much to Ashlyn’s surprise, her dad had come to the airport to pick her up, but she also noticed cameras from two or three local stations and rolled her eyes. Lee probably set it up for them to be there so Mike came across as a normal dad that would pick his daughter up from the airport. 

“So, Ashlyn, I was hoping that you might let me go with you tomorrow to help you pick out something for the ball.” Charlotte started the conversation.

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide and she looked to her dad, desperate for help.

Mike quickly spoke up. “Actually, I was hoping to take Ashlyn shopping. It’s not every day that a father gets to take his daughter shopping for something nice. Right, Ash?”

Ashlyn perked up and smiled at her dad, she knew that he wouldn’t pressure her into wearing something she wasn’t comfortable in. “Yea. It will be fun. I don’t think you’ve helped me pick out a dress since I was like 10.” 

The governor nodded. “Well, then that settles it. We’ll go shopping first thing in the morning.”

“But aren’t you busy tomorrow, overseeing all the preparations for the ball?” Charlotte asked her husband.

“Nothing that can’t be done in the afternoon after I’ve spent some time with my daughter. Plus, I have to go to town to see about my tux anyway.” Mike assured her.

Charlotte rolled her eyes but dropped the subject.

“So am I allowed to bring Gabe to the ball?” Whitney asked.

“Of course you can, sweetheart.” Charlotte insured her. 

Ashlyn’s head shot up from her plate. “Gabe!? I thought y’all broke up?” she asked her sister quickly.

“We did, but we got back together a few weeks ago.” Whitney then scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “How did you even know that we broke up? I didn’t tell you.”

Ashlyn adverted her eyes from her sister. “I think you might have let it slip over the phone one day. I just didn’t make a big deal of it and let it go.” She tried to lie.

“Bull crap! Ali told you.” Whitney said, as she caught her sister adverting her eyes.

“So what if she did? She still made sure I didn’t do anything to the little punk which is what you were afraid of anyways.”

Whitney rolled her eyes and started to eat her food. “So is Ali coming to the ball on Sunday?” Whitney asked innocently. She looked up from her food and saw that Ashlyn’s eyes had gone wide and Charlotte was now staring at the oldest girl. “I mean, as a member as dad’s campaign staff…of course.” Whitney added.

Ashlyn gave her younger sister a small smile. “No, she won’t.”

Charlotte smiled, pleased with Ashlyn’s answer. “Good. I hadn’t planned on her in the party count anyway.”

Ashlyn’s jaw clenched and her hands tightened around her silverware. She took a deep breath before calmly placing her fork and knife back on her plate. “You know, I’m not very hungry. I’ve been traveling all day and I just really feel like getting some sleep.” Ashlyn said as she stood from the table.

“Ashlyn-” the governor started, feeling guilty for his wife’s words when he now knew that Ali wasn’t just a friend to his daughter.

“No, its fine, dad. I’m really tired and I need to call Ali before I go to sleep anyway. I’ll see you in the morning.” Ashlyn said in a defeated tone as she walked out of the dining room and towards the stairs.

~~ The next morning ~~

“What do you think?” the governor asked as he came out of the dressing room wearing his tux.

“You look sharp, dad.” Ashlyn smiled at him and walked over to him to straighten his tie.

“I’m sorry for Charlotte last night.” Mike apologized as he caught his daughter’s eyes.

Ashlyn shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But I am worried about it. I want you to be happy. I told you months ago that the only approval you needed was mine. You don’t need Lee’s, and you don’t need Charlotte’s. Just know that I am proud of you.” He said as he walked away from his daughter and over to a table full of ties. He grabbed three shades of red bowties and brought them over to his daughter. “All Ali told me was that her dress was red. Maybe you should ask her which shade will match best.” He told his daughter as he held the ties out to her and nodded his head to the door of the tux shop. 

Ashlyn turned around with a face of confusion to find her girlfriend standing there. “Ali? What are you doing here?” the blonde asked as she rushed over and took the girl in her arms. 

Ali squeezed her tightly. “Your dad made a phone call. How could I say ‘no’ to the governor?” 

Ashlyn smiled and pulled back slightly from the embrace to drag Ali over to her dad. Ashlyn looked down at the bowties in her dad’s hand. “Are you serious about that?”

“Ofcourse I was. I’ve realized one thing that I haven’t been completely honest with my constituents about, and I plan to be openly honest with them about it before Election Day. Starting with the Governor's Ball.”

“And what is it that you haven’t been honest about?” Ashlyn asked nervously as she squeezed Ali to her side.

“The fact that I want my daughter to be happy, no matter who she chooses to love. And I want that for all of the people in Virginia, and if people don’t vote for me because of it then screw them.” He said confidently. 

Ashlyn smiled brightly and pulled her dad into a big hug. “Thank you.” She whispered in his ear as she let a single tear fall.

“I love you, baby girl.” Mike whispered back. He then held his hand out to Ali and pulled her into the embrace. 

~~ 12 years later ~~

“Ali! Have you seen my blue tie!?” Ashlyn yelled from the master bedroom of the home that the blonde and her construction company had specifically designed for her family. 

“Top drawer on the right!” Ali called back from the bedroom of their three year-old little boy, Michael.

Ashlyn looked and, of course, the tie was right where Ali had said it was. Ali then came into their bedroom and saw her wife throwing the tie around her neck. “Here. Let me do it.” Ali insisted as she came up to her wife. 

“I know how to tie my own tie.” Ashlyn said with a playful pout.

Ali giggled. “I know. I just like doing it.”

Ashlyn chuckled and wrapped her arms around the brunette. “12 years together and you’re still dressing me like it’s your job.”

Ali shrugged as she finished the tie and wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s neck. “It is my job. It’s just my job as your wife now.” she informed her before leaning up and placing a sweet kiss to her lips. 

“Are the kids ready to go?” Ashlyn asked as they parted so Ali could put her necklace on.

“Your daughter could use some help with her shoes.” Ali told her and Ashlyn made her way to the five year old little girl’s room. 

“Hey, Ellie. Do you need some help with those pretty new shoes of yours?” Ashlyn asked as she bent down beside her daughter who was struggling with her new white shoes that matched the light pink dress she was wearing.

Elizabeth nodded and Ashlyn quickly moved in to help. Once they were finished with her shoes, Ashlyn took her hand and led them over to Michael’s room. “Come on, buddy. It’s time to go.” Ashlyn called as she held out her free hand to him. The little boy, who was looking adorable in his little suit, ran over to his mother and they made their way downstairs to wait for Ali.

They had been waiting for five minutes and Ashlyn could see the limousine waiting for them outside. “Alex!” she called up the stairs. “It’s time to go!” 

Ali came down the stairs right at that time and she smiled down at her wife and two children. “Well, don’t all of you look good?” Ali gushed as she took Ashlyn’s awaiting hand. 

“And you look beautiful, princess.” Ashlyn told her as she kissed her cheek. 

“Thank you. Now, we need to get going. We can’t be late for your father’s Presidential inauguration.”

“No, we can’t!” Ashlyn said as she ushered her family out of the house.

~~ 

“Uncle Gabe!” Elizabeth called out in excitement as she saw her soon-to-be-official uncle standing beside her aunt. 

“Hey, munchkin!” he said as he caught her easily in his strong arms. Ashlyn watched as her daughter ran to him and had to laugh to herself about the first time she met the guy. She never would have imagined that her sister would now be engaged to the little baseball player that she had to interrogate at her father’s garden party 12 years ago.

“There is the best campaign manager in the world!” Ashlyn heard her father call out from behind her and turned to find Mike pulling his daughter-in-law in for a tight hug. 

“I don’t know if I would call me the best.” Ali said humbly.

“Are you kidding?” Ashlyn asked as she came up behind her wife and gave her dad a handshake. “How else do you think that this man managed to become the next President of the United States?”

Ali blushed and Ashlyn and Mike both chuckled. “She’s right, Ali. I wouldn’t be here without you.” Mike praised her.

 

“President Elect. They are ready for you now.” a man in a black suit came to interrupt them.

Mike nodded. “Show time, ladies. I love you both.” He said as he placed a kiss to both of their temples before walking over to give Whitney a hug before he became the next President of the United States.


	8. Follow-up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a flashback to right before the presidential campaign. Enjoy!

“You want ME to be your campaign manager?” Ali asked her father-in-law in disbelief as she bounced her baby boy against her knee. 

Mike laughed, “Of course, sweetheart. I don’t know of anyone better to get me in the White House than you. You helped me get this far as Vice-President. I trust that you can get me there.”

Ali shook her head. “I just don’t know, Mike.” Ali admitted as she looked down at her five month old son to hand him his pacifier as he became fussy. “I just don’t see how I could do it with the kids being so young. Your daughter is amazing with them and everything, but let’s be honest, this house would fall apart if I’m gone for more than a day.”

Mike chuckled at that. “Oh, I know it would, but here’s the beauty in being the campaign manager for your father-in-law, I want my daughter and grandchildren around also. Soooo, the solution is simple, bring them all with you.”

Ali sighed. “What about Ashlyn’s company? She’s going to want to be here to manage it.”

“She’ll understand.” Mike said simply. Ali rolled her eyes, it’s like he didn’t know his daughter at all. No way would Ashlyn be ok with leaving for long periods of time to go on the campaign trail.

“I’ll have to think about it. And I mean really think about it. Thank you for the opportunity, Mike, but Ellie just turned two and Michael needs my attention now in these early stages of development more than anything. I just need to think about what will be best for my family.” Ali explained.

Mike nodded. “I understand, Alex, and I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. I want what is best for the four of you also. Just think about it, and talk to Ashlyn.”

Ali nodded and stood to walk her father-in-law to the door. They walked to his car and Mike gave Ali a hug and placed a kiss on his grandson’s cheek before getting in the car with the secret service and leaving.

Ali returned inside and shut the door. She held her little boy close and sighed. “What am I going to do, buddy? What am I going to do?” she whispered.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

“We’re home!” Ashlyn called as she came into the house with Ellie running in front of her. 

“Mommy!” Ellie squealed as she spotted Ali sitting on the couch playing with Michael.

“Hey, sweetie.” Ali gushed as she gave her daughter her free hand to help pull her up on the couch. 

Once Ellie was up she crushed Ali in a hug. “Did you have fun at the park with mama?” Ali asked.

Ellie nodded and began to snuggle into Ali. 

Ali smiled and pulled her close before looking up to Ashlyn. “Looks like you wore her out.”

Ashlyn shrugged. “I tried. How’s my little man been?” she asked as she came to sit on the other side of Ali and picked up Michael to put him in her lap.

“He’s been good. He’s a little tired to, he got a visit from his grandpa that wore him out pretty good.”

“My dad?” Ashlyn asked surprised. 

Ali nodded, her nerves getting to her as she thought of talking to her wife about her dad’s visit.

“Sorry I missed him, I haven’t seen him this week. What did he want?”

“Ummmm, why don’t we put our two kiddos down for a nap and then talk about it.” Ali suggested.

Ashlyn looked at her wife curiously before agreeing and carrying Michael off to his room.

They met back up in the kitchen about thirty minutes later and Ashlyn crossed her arms as Ali walked into the room. “So?” she started.

Ali sighed, no avoiding it now. “He asked me to be his campaign manager.” She mumbled out.

“What?” Ashlyn asked.

“I said, that he asked me to be his campaign manager.” Ali said a little louder.

Ashlyn’s eyes went wide and a huge smile spread across her face. “Finally!” she said dramatically and swooped her wife up in her arms. “He asked me about it two weeks ago and I told him it was an awesome idea. I’m so proud of you, babe.” 

Ashlyn set Ali back on the ground and saw that Ali did quite have the excitement on her face that the blonde was expecting. “What’s wrong?”

Ali hung her head. “This is all I’ve ever wanted for my career but I just don’t think now is the right time for our family.” 

“What? Its fine, Alex. This could be a once and a lifetime opportunity. You have to take it.”

Ali shook her head. “The kids are too young. I can’t do it right now, I don’t want to do it right now. I want what is best for my kids, and having me busy beyond reason is not what is best for them.”

Ashlyn pulled Ali into her and put her finger under her wife’s chin so she could make Ali look at her. “Alex, we’ll be fine. The kids will be fine. My dad and I talked about this, he wants his family with him. That includes his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. You’ll still be with the kids, I’ll just be the one taking care of them when you’re busy.”

“I’ll be 35 when the campaign is over. What about us having another baby? That’s something we said we wanted to do, but I’m not getting any younger.” Ali complained, she was making excuses now and her wife knew it.

Ashlyn laughed. “You make it sound like 35 is ancient. We’ll have another baby after the campaign, it’s not a big deal, princess. Now stop making excuses. This is your dream, don’t let me and the kids hold you back from that.”

“You aren’t holding me back! I want to be with my family. Dreams change, Ashlyn, and I think mine might have.”

Ashlyn shook her head. “No. No, you’re still the ambitious grad student I fell in love with almost ten years ago. I know family is important, but this family, our family, is going to help you fulfill your dream.”

Ali had a tear stream down her face and Ashlyn wiped it away with her thumb before placing a kiss to her wife’s lips. 

“Are you sure that I’m good enough for a presidential campaign?” Ali asked quietly.

Ashlyn smiled down at her. “I know you are.”

“Why do you believe in me so much?” Ali asked in disbelief.

Ashlyn shrugged. “Because you’ve always believed in me.”

~~ Two and a half years later ~~

“Mrs. Harris, the numbers are in!” an intern yelled as he carried a paper over to his boss with the poll numbers of the last state that would assure the presidency to Ali’s father-in-law. 

Ali grabbed the paper from the young man and took a deep breath before looking at the paper. She wanted to cry tears of joy when she read that Mike had won the state of Iowa. She composed herself quickly before heading to the conference room that held all of her family, who was patiently waiting for the announcement. She walked in and everyone’s eyes turned to her. “We did it!” Ali yelled as she gave the paper to Mike and watched the room erupt into celebrations. Ali didn’t have a moment to think before Ashlyn was scooping her up in her arms and kissing her.

“I told you I believed in you.” Ashlyn whispered into her ear as the rest of the family filed out of the room heading towards the party that was waiting to hear the announcement, Whitney and Gabe holding their niece and nephew. 

“Thank you.” Ali whispered back. 

“I’m so proud of you.” 

“I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re the best wife I could possibly ask for, it’s been a long couple of years but now it’s over. Now it’s back to giving 100% to my family.”

Ashlyn chuckled. “Well, until the reelection campaign.”

Ali groaned. “We’ll talk about that after we’ve had some time to settle back to normal. I’m ready to have some more babies with you first.”

Ashlyn scoffed. “Normal? I don’t think you know the definition of normal if you consider ‘settling back to normal’ as having more children and having a father-in-law as the President of the United States.”

Ali giggled. “It’s ok. Nothing has ever been normal with you in my life.” 

Ashlyn sighed and pulled Ali in close. “True that.” She said against Ali’s lips before connecting them in a passionate kiss.


End file.
